Reading the Mark of Athena
by child of Hermes-god of stealth
Summary: Jason, Piper, Leo, Hazel, Frank, and Nico are shocked and depressed that Percy and Annabeth fell into Tartarus. Camp is wondering where the heck everyone is. Percy and Annabeth are fighting for their lives in Tartarus. So you can probably guess their surprise when they're transported to Olympus to relive their close encounters, with the gods unaware of their quest and problems.
1. What's going on?

**I'm baaaaccck! *round of applause* I'm totally into this. I'm NOT going to stop writing this any time soon, so if I do (NOT LIKELY) you can laugh in my face *whimpers and hides in corner*.**

**All characters (not to mention the bold sentences) belong to the amazing Rick Riordan!**

**Flames will be given to Leo. *grins cheekily***

All the campers of Camp Half Blood were singing at the campfire. No one's heart was really into it, though. Percy, Annabeth, Leo, Jason, and Piper were still on their quest to Camp Jupiter and who-knows-where.

The Athena cabin was scared for Annabeth, and a few younger ones were silently crying about their counselor Missing In Action. The Aphrodite cabin was pretty gloomy, which surprised the others because they hated to mess up their mascara. The Hephaestus cabin had started to grow close to Leo, even with his corny jokes and random comments. He cheered up the Hephaestus cabin when they were frustrated with projects and kept ideas running. Katie from the Demeter cabin was currently sitting with the Stolls, talking about the whereabouts of the Seven of the Prophecy and who they would be. Clarisse was sitting with her half siblings, thinking about her friends on their quest. She was NOT worried about them, just thinking about what they might run into, constantly.

Thalia was currently with her fellow Hunters, looking for a spot to make camp.

"I'll look near the forest, you guys check the lake areas," she called towards Phoebe.

"Are you sure? You could take Nicole or Madison with you," Phoebe offers.

Thalia wasn't sure why, but she _had _to go alone. It just seemed right.

"I'm good," Thalia responds, darting towards the forest area.

As soon as her feet had met the leafy entrance, she disappeared in a flash colorful light.

Nico was currently pacing the ship, staring blankly into space. _They… fell. Just fell. I failed to help them, and after all the times they saved my life. They fell straight into Tartarus, where people rarely stay alive, or sane. Then again, I survived, and I _think _I'm sane… If I can do it, they definitely can. _He didn't even realize he was crying until he felt tears splash against his palms.

Leo was heroically sobbing into a pillow and cursing the gods in colorful descriptions. _Stupid Nemesis. Stupid fortune cookie. Stupid possessing ghost things. Stupid luck. Stupid…_

Piper and Hazel were sitting, quietly crying to themselves. Thinking of their adventures, all they had been through, all Percy and Annabeth had been through. _He saved Frank at the River Tiber. She saved Jason, Leo, and me at the Grand Canyon. He saved the Fifth Cohort's reputation. She saved Percy, Tyson, and Grover in the Labyrinth. He defeated Kronos and Polybotes. She defeated Cacus and Circe. They saved the world…_

Frank and Jason were standing awkwardly to the side, slumping against the walls of the ship. Frank close to tears, Jason trying to collect his thoughts and process what happened.

When suddenly, they were thrust through a colorful, blinding light.

Percy and Annabeth were running, fast as their feet could take them, glancing behind them every so often. One clear expression on their face- they were terrified.

The gods were, once again, doing what they do best- arguing.

"DAAAADDDD, I need more money!"

"Apollo, you're immortal, you have tons of money!"

"I need more mortal money!"

"You have that too!"

"…So?"

"Saltwater is a great gift, they were just obsessed with olives!"

"NOOO, they just know stupidity when they see it, and they saw YOU!"

"My make up! I need more lip stick!"

"All right, where's my trident?"

"HERMES GET BACK HERE!"

"You were with that mortal girl, I saw you!"

"DON'T CALL ME ARTY!"

"I need pizza!"

"SHUT YOUR YAPHOLES!" Hades roared. Everyone shut up and looked at him curiously.

"I don't know why I bother to come here anymore," he muttered.

"The reason we come here every year isn't to argue," Hades begins.

"It isn't?" Hermes and Apollo asked innocently.

But right at that moment, a giant _BOOM _filled the room, only to be followed with a blinding flash of light.

**Can't wait! (eek!)**

**-Stealth (what? I didn't feel like typing my full pen name... *pouts*)**


	2. Where are they?

**Hi Guys! I fixed the major bold problem, there might still be some mistakes, I'm sorry about that, I don't know why my computer decided to hate me... if the story still shows up weird I'm gonna be very annoyed...**

**This is just 20 pages of awesomeness; 5,493 words of greatness. Okay, I'm done talking. Almost.**

**Sofia: I'm going to try to update at least 2 times a week, sounds about right to me...**

**allen r: there will be percabeth, don't get me wrong, but you have to wait for Percy and Annabeth to show up... (it'll be soon)**

**mrsspecialk: MOA is my favorite book. :) The stories with Percy, Thalia, and Nico acting stupid together are usually my favorite.**

**KaraokeLeo: Percy and Annabeth will be from when they're in Tartarus...**

**Everyone: I'M SO SORRY ABOUT THE BOLD PROBLEM!**

**Disclaimer: ALL CHARACTERS AND BOLD BELONG TO RICK RIORDAN!**

_But right at that moment, a giant BOOM filled the room, only to be followed with a blinding flash of light._

Everyone sat frozen watching in increasing curiosity as 7 figures stumbled away from the smoke and bright light. There were some faint coughs, then they seemed to realize where they were and their eyes grew wide. A girl with spiky black hair and electric blue eyes the gods recognized immediately as Thalia Grace walked towards her father.

"Daaad, why did you send us here? The Hunters won't know where I am!" she demanded.

Zeus looked equally confused and a little disgruntled that he was blamed right away, by his _daughter._ "I didn't send you here, Thalia," he said a little irritated.

The other figures stepped out of the color-changing smoke. The gods recognized Leo Valdez, Piper McLean, Jason Grace, and Nico Di Angelo. They stood next to two other teenagers, one stocky, and the other lean but well-built. Hades quietly changed into Pluto and smiled towards the girl, his daughter, Hazel Levesque. Hazel was quite happy that her father cared for her more now. Ares turned into Mars quickly and gave his son, Frank Zhang, a proud smile. Frank stood there stunned. His dad… was _proud _of _him_? Aphrodite looked at her beautiful Piper, to find a not-so-beautiful Piper. _What happened to her?_ Aphrodite thought worriedly, but she wasn't just thinking about Piper's looks. Hephaestus turned; ready to see his ever-hyper, grinning son, only to see his son staring blankly at the marble floor, with a look of depression. Hephaestus, horrified, wondered what could make _Leo _depressed. He was the most energetic boy he had ever seen.

The teens wiped their tears from their red-rimmed eyes. The gods eyed them carefully. Apollo and Hermes were having a conversation in each other's noggins. _If these are what the Heroes of Olympus look like, I'd hate to see what the future looks like. No kidding…. Hey, where are Percy and Annabeth? They're like, major. …I dunno. I want some nachos._

That pretty much ended their conversation.

Piper's hair was like a rat's nest. Hazel kept covering her facing with her hands. Leo looked frightened and… guilty. Guilty? He muttered something about fortune cookies and pits. Frank looked shocked and kept hugging Hazel. Jason held Piper's hand for reassurance. He whispered in her ear.

"Hope. They'll make it. Have faith."

Nico looked miserable and determined. A weird mix.

Everyone noticed that 5 minutes passed and everyone was still silent, studying each other. Apollo and Hermes couldn't allow silence.

"Well, anyone know why you're here? 'Cause I sure don't!" Hermes chirped up cheerfully.

Apollo, being Apollo, had to speak up. "So… anyone want food?" Silence.

"Aw, c'mon! I want food!" Apollo whined.

Artemis decided that now was the time to kick him. Hard. Everyone silently agreed.

"Oww!" Apollo sang an octave higher. (Pun intended)

"Umm… hello? Still here. With the same problem. Hello?" Thalia asked cautiously. The gods didn't answer. They were too busy trying to keep a straight face at Apollo's scrunched up expression.

Zeus looked down at her and spoke.

"As I said ear-" he started, but was interrupted by a note that floated gradually towards his head. He snatched it out of the air. He read it, then his expression became… almost scared.

He looked at Jason, seeing he was there and perfectly fine, physically (not really emotionally, but that wasn't important to Zeus.), he read the note out loud-

_Gods and goddesses:_

_We've sent the 7 demigods here in front of you from the future, to tell you about their quest to Rome, because we've become aware that you should know about this, NOW. Their quest might be the scariest we've seen, and we've seen all. No harming demigods._

Zeus, Ares, Hades, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus all paled greatly, which was impressive for Hades for he's already deadly pale to begin with.

Zeus read on.

_ Demigods:_

_We apologize. We have a feeling you won't be enjoying this much. Do not give anything away, or say where Percy and Annabeth are. Remember that, that's important. No hurting the gods._

_The Fates_

"Them? Hurt us?" Ares scoffed.

Hazel and Piper shared a look, and smirked.

"Yeah, it's not like Percy fought you, and won, or anything. When he was 12, I might add," Piper said casually. The gods snickered and Ares turned red.

"It's not like Percy refused to kneel to you after the war games, and you did nothing about it," Hazel said, holding back a giggle. Then she remembered where he was and turned sad again.

Now Ares was beet-red, but said nothing to defend himself.

Then everyone noticed the looks on Poseidon and Athena's face. They were worried and terrified.

"Wh-Where's Percy and Annabeth?" Poseidon asked slowly, chalk white.

"Where's Annabeth?" Athena demanded, louder.

The demigods flinched, and Hazel and Piper started crying again.

"I said, WHERE'S ANNABETH?" Athena yelled, but if you listened carefully enough you would be able to hear the worry masked in her voice.

"We-We can't say," Frank replied weakly.

Poseidon seemed to be hyperventilating. Were they safe? Were they _alive?_

"At least tell us if they're alive," Poseidon pleaded.

"Yes, so far…" Nico muttered the last part but Thalia heard him.

Thalia was stunned. She had no idea where Percy and Annabeth were. Thalia walked up to Nico and whispered to him.

"Where are they? I'm a demigod, and I'm from the future like you guys, so I can know, right?" she pressed.

No response.

"Hello?" She waved her hand in front of his face, snapping him into the present. He blinked, then whispered in her ear.

"Later. Not here. They could listen, you know." He gestured towards the gods, some thinking, some staring, and some needing an inhaler.

Hermes frowned. _Shoot. So close, though._

"So, what are we supposed to do? Explain our q-" Jason started, only to get whacked in the head. With a _book. _"A book?" he asked to no one in peculiar.

"Ask Athena. She likes to read a lot of those things. She'll know if it's a book or not." Apollo supplied.

Jason eyed him strangely to see if he was serious.

"What? She really does! Don't ask me, though. Never touched one. Never will. Go on." Apollo gestured.

Jason looked at Artemis with a raised eyebrow, and she nodded. She smacked Apollo happily. Jason turned towards Athena.

"Confirmation, that's definitely a book," she said.

Jason didn't say anything, but he mentally rolled his eyes. _No duh._

"What's it called?!" Athena ran towards the book on the floor. She picked it up and read the title. _The Mark of Athena… is that…but I only give those quests to children of Athena, the only child of Athena on the quest is-_

Athena's eyes widen and she dropped the book with a _thump_ and walked briskly back to her throne. All the gods gasped. Athena, dropping a _book?_ That was Athena's number one rule. _Never, ever drop a book._ The gods gaped at her. Jason cautiously picked up the book, read it, and passed it to Nico, eyes full of terror. Nico gulped, and read the title.

"The Mark of Athena," he began, with a mix of curiosity because he never heard about the quest from their point of view, and terror because of what awaited them in the book.

Hazel, Frank, Piper, Leo, and Jason shuddered involuntarily while Thalia and Nico looked at them curiously. The gods leaned in wanting to know what was in this dangerous quest.

"Um, are we going to stand here the whole time, or what?" Thalia interrupted.

"Didn't even get to the first sentence and I'm interrupted," Nico grumbles.

"How about… this." Apollo flashed in a fluffy couch and some bean bags.

Piper, Jason, Nico, and Thalia flopped on the couch while Frank, Hazel, and Leo sank into the colorful bean bags.

"Continue." Zeus rumbled.

**Annabeth I**

Leo grinned evilly. Annabeth's thoughts!

"We get to see things in Annabeth's point of view! But the downside is that she's gonna make everything mathematical and sciency," he said grinning like a mad man.

"Your thoughts are probably in here, too," Piper reminded him.

His face fell, and turned to horror. Apollo and Hermes snickered.

**Until she met the exploding statue, Annabeth thought she was prepared for anything.**

"Oh! Terminus! He better not cause problems," Athena narrowed her eyes.

"Athena, don't be such a worry wart," Poseidon rolled his eyes.

Athena's glare turned to him, and he shrunk under her glare.

**She'd paced the deck of their flying warship, the ****_Argo II_****, checking and double-checking the ballistae to make sure they were locked down. **

Athena nodded her head in agreement.

**She confirmed that the white "We come in peace" flag was flying from the mast.**

Athena nodded her head and muttered "Check."

**She reviewed the plan with the rest of the crew- and the backup plan, and the backup plan to the backup plan.**

Athena grinned. "Check."

"That's a lot of plans," Apollo blurted out.

"That's Annabeth for you," Thalia nodded.

**Most important, she pulled aside their war-crazed chaperone, Coach Gleeson Hedge,**

Piper, Leo, and Jason grinned at the mentioning of Coach Hedge.

"Wait, wait, _wait. _You brought Gleeson with you?" Hermes sputtered.

Apollo started choking from his laughter. "He's gonna try to kill everyone!" he exclaimed.

**and encouraged him to take the morning off in his cabin and watch reruns of mixed martial arts championships.**

Ares looked at the book with new interest. "I like this guy," he decided.

**The last thing they needed as they flew a magical Greek trireme into a potentially hostile Roman camp was a middle-aged satyr in gym clothes waving a club and yelling "Die!"**

"See?" Apollo broke in.

"No one disagreed, Apollo." Artemis rolled her eyes.

"Definitely like this guy," Ares confirmed.

Hermes started laughing and everyone stared at him. "I just thought of Gleeson running around a gymnasium waving a large stick and screaming 'Die!'"

Everyone scooted away from Hermes, who was still laughing his head off.

**Everything seemed to be in order. Even that mysterious chill she'd been feeling since the ship launched had dissipated, at least for now.**

Athena whipped out a notebook and scribbled some notes in it.

Aphrodite looked over her shoulder. "'Mysterious chill', really Athena? You made something almost interesting boring," Aphrodite pouted.

"Shut up. I want to know what happens to my daughter," Athena mumbles.

Aphrodite glanced at Piper and decided to let the subject drop.

**The warship descended through the clouds, but Annabeth couldn't stop second-guessing herself.**

"Always think of every possibility," Athena nodded.

Apollo was listening to his iPhone. He probably would've gotten away with it if he didn't start singing along to 'Brighter than the Sun'.

After Apollo was smacked in the face Artemis noticed something.

"Hey Apollo, when someone sings 'Brighter than the Sun' aren't they practically saying that they're smarter than you?"

Apollo stared at her blankly. "What?"

"So," she continued "You were saying you're smarter than yourself."

The gods thought about that while Apollo stared at Artemis.

"I don't get it."

"It shouldn't be that hard to be brighter than Apollo," Artemis muttered.

"He's about as bright as a brick." Thalia finished.

Artemis and Thalia smiled at each other. _Her attitude is remarkable._

**What if this was a bad idea? What if the Romans panicked and attacked them on sight?**

**The Argo II definitely did not look friendly. Two hundred feet long, with a bronze-plated hull, mounted repeating crossbows fore and aft, a flaming metal dragon for a figurehead, and two rotating ballistae amidships that could fire explosive bolts powerful enough to blast through concrete …**

Hephaestus grinned at his son. "Great job. Did you use steel?"

Leo smiled weakly. "Actually, I used titanium. Steel is heavier and rusts easier."

Hephaestus nodded in approval.

**well, it wasn't the most appropriate ride for a meet-and-greet with the neighbors.**

A few people chuckled.

"I think Percy is rubbing off on her," Jason stage whispered.

Hazel, Frank, and Nico laughed.

**Annabeth had tried to give the Romans a heads-up. She'd asked Leo to send one of his special inventions—a holographic scroll—to alert their friends inside the camp. Hopefully the message had gotten through. Leo had wanted to paint a giant message on the bottom of the hull—WASSUP? with a smiley face—**

"Do it!" Apollo and Hermes were chanting.

"That would've been epic!" Leo grinned.

**but Annabeth vetoed the idea.**

"Annnnnabeth!" Apollo and Hermes whined.

"I know right? I was all 'whaaat?' and she was like 'nooo! End of story!' and I was all like 'ma'am, yes ma'am' and she was like in slapping mode and I…" Leo babbled.

Hephaestus smiled. His son was his normal self again. At least, for now. He didn't realize how much he missed his insane son. _A messed up world…_

**She wasn't sure the Romans had a sense of humor.**

Hermes gasped. "My sons better have a sense of humor! The horror of those thoughts…" he trailed off.

Athena rolled her eyes.

**Too late to turn back now.**

**The clouds broke around their hull, revealing the gold-and-green carpet of the Oakland Hills below them. Annabeth gripped one of the bronze shields that lined the starboard rail.**

**Her three crewmates took their places.**

**On the stern quarterdeck, Leo rushed around like a madman, checking his gauges and wrestling levers. Most helmsmen would've been satisfied with a pilot's wheel or a tiller. Leo had also installed a keyboard, monitor, aviation controls from a Learjet, a dubstep soundboard, and motion-control sensors from a Nintendo Wii. He could turn the ship by pulling on the throttle, fire weapons by sampling an album, or raise sails by shaking his Wii controllers really fast. Even by demigod standards, Leo was seriously ADHD.**

"And proud of it!" Leo yelled through cupped hands.

Apollo and Hermes had a few ideas. "Hey Leo, do you think you can make a remote control that can control all electronics…"

"Yes." Leo said immediately.

"And a speaker so we can hear people from far away?" Hermes added.

"With… I'd need… a few… Yup." Leo decided.

Hermes and Apollo high-fived.

Hera groaned. "You do realize you just set off a bomb, right?"

"If it annoys you, then yes."

**Piper paced back and forth between the mainmast and the ballistae, practicing her lines.**

"**Lower your weapons," she murmured. "We just want to talk."**

**Her charmspeak was so powerful, the words flowed over Annabeth, filling her with the desire to drop her dagger and have a nice long chat.**

Aphrodite turned to Piper. "Great charmspeak, Piper. Children of Athena are hard to charmspeak."

Piper smiled, but turned sad remembering where Annabeth was. Jason, seeing her pained expression squeezed her hand in reassurance.

**For a child of Aphrodite, Piper tried hard to play down her beauty.** **Today she was dressed in tattered jeans, worn-out sneakers, and a white tank top with pink Hello Kitty designs.** **(Maybe as a joke, though Annabeth could never be sure with Piper.) Her choppy brown hair was braided down the right side with an eagle's feather.**

Piper giggled lightly. "Joke."

**Then there was Piper's boyfriend—Jason. He stood at the bow on the raised crossbow platform, where the Romans could easily spot him. His knuckles were white on the hilt of his golden sword. Otherwise he looked calm for a guy who was making himself a target.** **Over his jeans and orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, he'd donned a toga and a purple cloak—symbols of his old rank as praetor. With his wind-ruffled blond hair and his icy blue eyes, he looked ruggedly handsome and in control—just like a son of Jupiter should.**

"Annabeth, you're not allowed to check out other guys," Thalia laughed, then stopped when she remembered she wasn't here. _Where is she?_

Piper knew Annabeth had no interest in any boy besides Percy. She had searched non-stop for him, and she never gave up.

**He'd grown up at Camp Jupiter, so hopefully his familiar face would make the Romans hesitant to blow the ship out of the sky.**

**Annabeth tried to hide it, but she still didn't completely trust the guy.**

Piper stifled a gasp and Jason's eyes widen. Jason looked hurt. "I didn't do anything to her, did I?"

"No. Of course you didn't." Piper insisted.

Jason still looked hurt. "I hope she doesn't feel like this the whole quest."

**He acted too perfect—always following the rules, always doing the honorable thing.**

Piper crossed her arms grumpily while Hermes was talking rapidly to Jason.

"Always?! Always the honorable thing?! No stealing? No pranks? Rules are meant to be broken, that's why we have them! I have to set up an appointment for you with my children, in the afternoon or morning?" Hermes rattled off.

"Um, Lord Hermes," Jason interrupted.

"Appointment? For what?" Jason asked nervously, forgetting about the book's comments towards him.

"Learning to steal. Prank. So on. My sons Travis and Connor can teach you."

"Whoa, wait. Travis and Conner… _teaching_." Thalia asked disbelievingly.

"Teaching how to steal. Use stealth. That kind of stuff."

"Oh. Never mind."

Jason still looked nervous.

**He even looked too perfect. **Nico read on.

Now Piper raised an eyebrow. Nico read hurriedly.

**In the back of her mind, she had a nagging thought: What if this is a trick and he betrays us?**

Jason stood up, not angry, but frustrated. "I would NEVER."

Piper nodded whole-heartedly.

Nico tried to read faster.

**What if we sail into Camp Jupiter, and he says, **_**Hey, Romans! Check out these prisoners and this**_****_**cool ship I brought you!**_

_Nico sighed exasperated. Is she done with the worrying yet?_

_Piper was quietly sobbing in her hands. Did she still think of him like that? When she fell?_

_Jason sunk down into the cushions._

_Nico finally spoke up. "Knowing Annabeth she's probably just thinking of every possibility," he supplied._

_"True," Thalia sighed. Why hadn't she seen that earlier?_

_Piper slowly stopped crying. Why hadn't she thought of that?_

**Annabeth doubted that would happen. **

"See?" Nico interrupted himself.

**Still, she couldn't look at him without getting a bitter taste in her mouth. He'd been part of Hera's forced "exchange program" to introduce the two camps. Her Most Annoying Majesty, Queen of Olympus, had convinced the other gods that their two sets of children—Roman and Greek—had to combine forces to save the world from the evil goddess Gaea, who was awakening from the earth, and her horrible children the giants.**

Piper and Jason breathed out. "Oh. Poor Annabeth." Piper whispered. Jason nodded.

The gods kind of sat there, uncomfortable with the scene.

**Without warning, Hera had plucked up Percy Jackson, Annabeth's boyfriend, wiped his memory, and sent him to the Roman camp. In exchange, the Greeks had gotten Jason. None of that was Jason's fault; but every time Annabeth saw him, she remembered how much she missed Percy.**

"Poor Annabeth." Piper repeated. Everyone nodded this time.

"I think Piper's Aphrodite is showing!" Leo stage whispered to release the tension.

Jason and Aphrodite grinned while Piper scowled, bright red.

"Μεγάλο επικεφαλής αγόρι επισκευής" Piper muttered, and everyone laughed at Leo.

"That's a new insult," Apollo chirped cheerfully. "Big head boy of repair. I like it. It has a nice ring to it." He continued.

"A.k.a. Repair Boy," Piper declared.

**Percy … who was somewhere below them right now.**

_**Oh, gods.**_** Panic welled up inside her.**

"Eeep!" Aphrodite screeched. "So cute!"

"So… Percy makes her panic? Good or bad?" Frank asked confused.

Hazel laughed. "Good," she assured him.

**She forced it down. She couldn't afford to get overwhelmed.**

_**I'm a child of Athena**_**, she told herself. **_**I have to stick to my plan and not get distracted.**_

"So strict. Boring!" Apollo mumbled.

**She felt it again—that familiar shiver, as if a psychotic snowman had crept up behind her and was breathing down her neck.**

"Percy definitely affected her!" Hazel said and Frank laughed.

Athena was not pleased to hear that, while Poseidon smirked. "He tends to do that." he said seriously.

**She turned, but no one was there.**

"I hope she didn't really expect to see one," Piper joked.

"You never know in the world of demigods," Thalia and Nico said together.

"Well, that was…creepy," Zeus noted, while Thalia and Nico high-fived.

**Must be her nerves. Even in a world of gods and monsters, Annabeth couldn't believe a new warship would be haunted. The Argo II was well protected. The Celestial bronze shields along the rail were enchanted to ward off monsters, and their onboard satyr, Coach Hedge, would have sniffed out any intruders.**

"She had to jinx it, didn't she?" Leo sighed. It was _not _fun to be possessed.

**Annabeth wished she could pray to her mother for guidance, but that wasn't possible now. Not after last month, when she'd had that horrible encounter with her mom and gotten the worst present of her life…**

Athena put her head in her hands and silently cursed herself. How could she be so stupid? Why would she give Annabeth the quest for the Mark of Athena if she already had a quest?

Everyone else was confused and staring at Athena cautiously.

"Why don't we keep reading," Hestia suggested. Everyone agreed.

**The cold pressed closer. She thought she heard a faint voice in the wind, laughing. Every muscle in her body tensed. Something was about to go terribly wrong.** **She almost ordered Leo to reverse course. Then, in the valley below, horns sounded. The Romans had spotted them.**

"Oh goody, and the fighting begins," Hades said sarcastically.

**Annabeth thought she knew what to expect. Jason had described Camp Jupiter to her in great detail. Still, she had trouble believing her eyes. Ringed by the Oakland Hills, the valley was at least twice the size of Camp Half-Blood. A small river snaked around one side and curled toward the center like a capital letter G, emptying into a sparkling blue lake.**

**Directly below the ship, nestled at the edge of the lake, the city of New Rome gleamed in the sunlight. She recognized landmarks Jason had told her about—the hippodrome, the coliseum, the temples and parks, the neighborhood of Seven Hills with its winding streets, colorful villas, and flowering gardens.**

**She saw evidence of the Romans' recent battle with an army of monsters. The dome was cracked open on a building she guessed was the Senate House. The forum's broad plaza was pitted with craters. Some fountains and statues were in ruins.**

"Why?" Zeus asked confused.

"The giants' army arrived at Camp Jupiter, but Percy saved us," Hazel said happily.

Frank smiled wistfully. Percy was just awesome like that.

Poseidon smiled proudly. Then he seemed to remember that his son and his girlfriend were in a dangerous situation, because he seems to quiet down after that.

All the other gods' minds were on the giants' attack.

**Dozens of kids in togas were streaming out of the Senate House to get a better view of the Argo II. More Romans emerged from the shops and cafés, gawking and pointing as the ship descended.** **About half a mile to the west, where the horns were blowing, a Roman fort stood on a hill. It looked just like the illustrations Annabeth had seen in military history books—with a defensive trench lined with spikes, high walls, and watchtowers armed with scorpion ballistae. Inside, perfect rows of white barracks lined the main road—the Via Principalis.**

"Hey Jason, I always meant to ask, why do Romans like spikes so much?" Leo asked his normal stupid questions.

Jason thought about. "I'm not really sure. Because it's fun to play with sharp objects?" he guessed. Ares nodded happily.

**A column of demigods emerged from the gates, their armor and spears glinting as they hurried toward the city. In the midst of their ranks was an actual war elephant.**

**Annabeth wanted to land the Argo II before those troops arrived, but the ground was still several hundred feet below. She scanned the crowd, hoping to catch a glimpse of Percy.**

**Then something behind her went BOOM!**

"What?!" Athena screeched.

"Just wait…" Nico grumbled.

**The explosion almost knocked her overboard. She whirled and found herself eye to eye with an angry statue.**

"Oh." Athena said sheepishly.

Half the gods rolled their eyes.

"**Unacceptable!" he shrieked.**

**Apparently he had exploded into existence, right there on the deck. Sulfurous yellow smoke rolled off his shoulders. Cinders popped around his curly hair. From the waist down, he was nothing but a square marble pedestal. From the waist up, he was a muscular human figure in a carved toga.**

"**I will not have weapons inside the Pomerian Line!" he announced in a fussy teacher voice. "I certainly will not have Greeks!"**

"Hey!" the Greek demigods cried.

**Jason shot Annabeth a look that said, **_**I've got this.**_

"I didn't," he informed everyone sheepishly.

"**Terminus," he said. "It's me. Jason Grace."**

"**Oh, I remember you, Jason!" Terminus grumbled. "I thought you had better sense than to consort with the enemies of Rome!"**

"Not enemies over here!" Thalia and Nico chorused. They grinned stupidly.

"**But they're not enemies—"**

"Thank you!"

"**That's right," Piper jumped in. "We just want to talk. If we could—"**

"**Ha!" snapped the statue. "Don't try that charmspeak on me, young lady. And put down that dagger before I slap it out of your hands!"**

**Piper glanced at her bronze dagger, which she'd apparently forgotten she was holding. "Um …okay. But how would you slap it? You don't have any arms."**

Hermes winced. "Bad move, he hates to be reminded that he doesn't have arms. He pretends he does, which is pretty weird…" he trailed off.

"**Impertinence!" There was a sharp POP and a flash of yellow. Piper yelped and dropped the dagger, which was now smoking and sparking.**

Apollo snickered but stopped when he saw Aphrodite's glare.

"**Lucky for you I've just been through a battle," Terminus announced. "If I were at full strength, I would've blasted this flying monstrosity out of the sky already!"**

"**Hold up." Leo stepped forward, wagging his Wii controller. "Did you just call my ship a monstrosity? I know you didn't do that."**

Hephaestus smiled. He knew that his son hated insults towards his hard work.

Demeter was thinking thoughtfully. "I think Terminus needs cereal!" she announced.

"Please. Torture him." Athena muttered.

"And some time behind the plow," she added.

"But he doesn't have arms," Leo said confused.

Hermes' head snapped up. "Hold on. Say it with me. _Terminus has arms. Terminus has arms._ Very good. Now don't forget that."

"Oooh kay then."

**The idea that Leo might attack the statue with his gaming device was enough to snap Annabeth out of her shock.**

Some of the gods laughed, and Piper giggled. She could totally see Leo doing that.

"**Let's all calm down." She raised her hands to show she had no weapons. "I take it you're Terminus, the god of boundaries. Jason told me you protect the city of New Rome, right? I'm Annabeth Chase, daughter of—"**

"**Oh, I know who you are!" The statue glared at her with its blank white eyes. "A child of Athena, Minerva's Greek form. Scandalous! You Greeks have no sense of decency.**

"Excuse _me_? Demeter, can you go force feed Terminus some cereal? Can I help?"

Demeter nodded happily and flashed out, with Athena.

"This'll be good." Zeus murmured.

**We Romans know the proper place for that goddess." Annabeth clenched her jaw. This statue wasn't making it easy to be diplomatic. "What exactly do you mean, that goddess? And what's so scandalous about—"**

"**Right!" Jason interrupted. "Anyway, Terminus, we're here on a mission of peace. We'd love permission to land so we can—"**

"**Impossible!" the god squeaked. "Lay down your weapons and surrender! Leave my city immediately!"**

"**Which is it?" Leo asked. "Surrender, or leave?"**

"**Both!" Terminus said. "Surrender, then leave. I am slapping your face for asking such a stupid question, you ridiculous boy! Do you feel that?"**

Hazel giggled, she knew Terminus' temper was _not_ pretty.

"**Wow." Leo studied Terminus with professional interest. "You're wound up pretty tight. You got any gears in there that need loosening? I could take a look."**

**He exchanged the Wii controller for a screwdriver from his magic tool belt and tapped the statue's pedestal.**

"You know, I don't think that's going to help you get past Terminus." Hephaestus said thoughtfully.

"**Stop that!" Terminus insisted. Another small explosion made Leo drop his screwdriver. "Weapons are not allowed on Roman soil inside the Pomerian Line."** "**The what?" Piper asked.**

"**City limits," Jason translated.**

"**And this entire ship is a weapon!" Terminus said. "You cannot land!"**

**Down in the valley, the legion reinforcements were halfway to the city. The crowd in the forum was over a hundred strong now. Annabeth scanned the faces and … oh, gods. She saw him. He was walking toward the ship with his arms around two other kids like they were best buddies—**

"We're mentioned!" Hazel whispers excitedly to Frank.

"Oh no…" Frank gulped. "How do you think we're going to be described?"

"Um…"

**a stout boy with a black buzz cut, and a girl wearing a Roman cavalry helmet. Percy looked so at ease, so happy. He wore a purple cape just like Jason's—the mark of a praetor.**

Poseidon threw his fist in the air. "Take that Romans! Son of the feared Poseidon, PRAETOR! Take that!"

Hazel and Frank glanced at each other. Ever since they met Percy they realize Neptune was a good guy, but it's kind of hard to convince all of New Rome. Jason also realized that Poseidon is good, being at Camp Half Blood. They felt guilty.

**Annabeth's heart did a gymnastics routine.**

Aphrodite sighed happily, while Ares sighed, bored. Where's the _action_?

"**Leo, stop the ship," she ordered.**

"**What?"**

"**You heard me. Keep us right where we are."**

**Leo pulled out his controller and yanked it upward. All ninety oars froze in place. The ship stopped sinking.**

"**Terminus," Annabeth said, "there's no rule against hovering over New Rome, is there?"**

Artemis nodded thoughtfully. She would make a great hunter, but she has Jackson.

**The statue frowned. "Well, no …"**

"**We can keep the ship aloft," Annabeth said. "We'll use a rope ladder to reach the forum. That way, the ship won't be on Roman soil. Not technically."**

**The statue seemed to ponder this. Annabeth wondered if he was scratching his chin with imaginary hands.**

"A little off-topic…"

"Hey! We're ADHD!"

"Go ADHD!"

"Shut up Leo!"

"**I like technicalities," he admitted. "Still …"**

"**All our weapons will stay aboard the ship," Annabeth promised. "I assume the Romans—even those reinforcements marching toward us—will also have to honor your rules inside the Pomerian Line if you tell them to?"**

"**Of course!" Terminus said. "Do I look like I tolerate rule breakers?"**

"Yes." Poseidon, Hermes, Apollo, and Leo immediately at the same time Jason, Hazel, and Frank whined "No."

"He made me measure every blade of grass a few times," Hazel complained.

"**Uh, Annabeth …" Leo said. "You sure this is a good idea?"**

"Nope." Leo said, popping the p.

**She closed her fists to keep them from shaking.**

"Nope, not sure."

**That cold feeling was still there. It floated just behind her, and now that Terminus was no longer shouting and causing explosions, she thought she could hear the presence laughing, as if it was delighted by the bad choices she was making.**

"Nope, not s-"

"SHUT UP."

**But Percy was down there … he was so close. She had to reach him.**

Aphrodite sighed dreamily. "I can almost _feel _the love."

"**It'll be fine," she said. "No one will be armed. We can talk in peace. Terminus will make sure each side obeys the rules." She looked at the marble statue. "Do we have an agreement?"**

**Terminus sniffed. "I suppose. For now. You may climb down your ladder to New Rome, daughter of Athena. Please try not to destroy my town."**

"Yeah, and that ended up just great," Leo muttered. He still felt guilty about that.

"That's the end of the chapter." Nico said.

The gods tensed. They felt _something_, but what?

Suddenly, a bright light enveloped the room, and a note floated into Nico's lap.

Two familiar voices from the source of the light chimed out together:

"Cooool! Get the camera, Clarisse is hanging upside down!" followed by a large grunt and a lot of retching noises.

"Clarisse, where's your manners? Kick anywhere but there! Sensitive!" one of the voices whined.

The other voice seemed surprised. "Whoa, that was almost deep."

By then, the light had faded, and the whole room face palmed.

Standing there was two bruised, banged up boys on the floor groaning with a victorious looking girl above them.

Clarisse and the Stoll brothers were on Olympus.

**Whew! Fixed the problem! *thumbs up***

**Go Stoll brothers! Tell me if I should add what Demeter and Athena does to Terminus in the next chapter. Thanks for all the reviews, it means a lot to me! ^-^**

**-Stealth (still lovin' the pen name)**


	3. Annabeth, what the Hades?

**Hi! So, I'm a little annoyed, because someone reported me. I spent all weekend writing this thing, and I get reported. Ergh. Anyways, You're probably wondering why there's a turtle on the photo thingy. well, I felt like putting it there. Bam. So... this isn't my best chapter, but I know when Percy and Annabeth are going to come in! I just have to tell Thalia about Tartarus, first. **

**Trident Lover: yeah, the stolls and clarisse are my fave minor characters (Sorry Clarisse! i mean't major! Don't kill me!)**

**AundreaCarraway: I agree 100%. the stories tend to get *ugh* from there. (no offense writers)**

**Apeni: yes, I'm so sorry about that!**

**ThunderNinjaBird: Thanks so much! (it means a lot!)**

**mrsspecialk: thx for the info, happy you're so excited about the stories!**

**Disclaimer: ALL CHARACTERS AND BOLD BELONG TO THE AMAZING RICK RIORDAN!**

_Standing there was two bruised, banged up boys on the floor groaning with a victorious looking girl above them._

_Clarisse and the Stoll brothers were on Olympus._

The Stolls grumbled something about bad tempers only to get smacked in the face by an amused Clarisse. They laid on their backs, staring at the ceiling. Connor turned to Travis. "Did you get it?" he asked weakly.

Travis held a metallic camera in the air like a trophy. "Yup," he grinned happily.

Everyone rolled their eyes as Hermes beamed proudly at his sons as Clarisse made a wild grab for the camera. Travis and Connor leaped up, which surprised everyone because they thought they were too injured to move, and separated, Travis to the left of the throne room and Connor to the right. They kept running, the camera in Travis' hands. Just as Clarisse was about to grab Travis he threw the camera towards Connor, who caught it with a jump. Clarisse's eyes narrowed, and she ran after Connor. Connor threw the camera back towards Travis, only for it to miss, nailing Hephaestus in face, who quickly set it on fire, swatting it towards Ares who punched it, flying in to Poseidon's lap, who dunked it in cold water, batting it towards Zeus, who fried it with a good lightning bolt, onto the floor with a _thunk. _Travis and Connor stopped sprinting and cautiously walked towards the steaming camera. Travis picked it up and dropped it again once it sparked. The camera was now sizzling, half melted, with a fist-shaped dent in the side. Travis and Connor faced each other and both yelled "It's all your fault!" while Clarisse came out from behind and smiled at the remains of the camera.

She faced Zeus and spoke. "Why did you send us here, lord?"

Thalia snickered. _Did she just use manners?_

Zeus, on the other hand, was banging his head rapidly on the armrest of his throne. _Why does everyone assume it's me?_

The Stolls were up and quietly videotaping Zeus banging his head.

Nico cut in. "Um, a note appeared at the same time Clarisse and the Stolls arrived."

"Well? What does it say?"

Nico read aloud:

_ Everyone:_

_So, we decided to bring a few friends to read with you guys._

"Reading? Ugh." Clarisse exclaimed.

_There might be more later on._

"Katie?"

"Chris?"

"Percy and Annabeth?" Nico and Thalia sounded hopeful.

_Stop interrupting!_

"Um… ok."

_We might be able to bring Percy and Annabeth. Maybe. It's difficult to transport them from where they are currently. There might be minor problems if we are able to bring them._

Poseidon and Athena brightened a little at that.

Piper and Hazel sucked in their breath while Frank, Leo, and Jason looked relieved. Nico looked hopeful. Thalia was still annoyed that she had no idea where they were.

"Minor problems?" Hephaestus wondered.

_*Humph* Don't interrupt! Anyways, Happy Reading!_

"Wait! What minor problems? Are you able to bring Percy and Annabeth to Olympus?!"

-_The Fates_

"Oh thanks," Leo grumbled.

"So we're… reading?" Clarisse asked suspiciously.

"About our quest," Piper said quietly.

"Who are the other people in the Great Prophecy?" Clarisse insisted.

"This is Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang," Jason introduced.

Clarisse raised an eyebrow. "Godly parents?"

Hazel stepped up, mixed feelings towards Clarisse. "Daughter of Pluto."

Frank stepped forwards. "Son of Mars, Legacy of Poseidon."

Poseidon looked surprised at first, and then went through last names in his mind. _Oh! He's related to Periclymenus. That means… he could be a shapeshifter._

"Achievements?"

Nico wondered why Clarisse cared at all, maybe so she knew their weaknesses? Or to know the powers of the Seven of the Prophecy?

Hazel looked annoyed now. "Member of Fifth Cohort, full legionnaire, defeater of Alcyoneus, rider of Arion, Geokinesis, Ferrokinesis, defeater of some other monsters, girlfriend of Frank Zhang."

Clarisse nodded towards Frank.

"Member of the Fifth Cohort, defeater of Alcyoneus, shapeshifter, freer of Thanatos, defeater of basilisks, defeater of a whole bunch of monsters, boyfriend of Hazel Levesque. Happy?"

Clarisse nodded satisfied, totally missing the sarcasm. Frank rolled his eyes.

The gods gasped slightly at the mention of shapeshifter.

"So… we're reading?" The Stolls asked. Everyone face palmed while the Stolls pouted.

"Let's just start on the second chapter, ok?" Thalia commanded.

"I don't want to read another chapter," Nico whined.

"Fine," Thalia sighed. "Anyone else want to read?" Silence.

Suddenly Athena and Demeter appeared in a swirl of wheat.

"Well that was fun!" Athena chirped cheerfully. Zeus tried not to laugh. He knew that expression. That was her _I just beat someone up because I felt like it. You want to be next? _expression. She had a wide variety of expressions.

The Stolls glanced at her suspiciously. "What did you do?"

"Oh, Demeter and I just force fed Terminus some cereal," she said casually. Demeter nodded dreamily. "I didn't get to do that for awhile…" she trailed off.

The Stolls got up and gave Athena a high five, which everyone was a little surprised by.

"Um…" Thalia held up the book awkwardly. "The book?"

Athena went towards the book. "I'll read." she stated, returning to her throne with Demeter behind her.

Clarisse took a red beanbag while Travis took the edge of the couch, and Connor right below him on a beanbag.

**"Annabeth II," **Athena started. "Still her thoughts," she sighed. She thought it was rude to be reading about her thoughts; it was an invasion of privacy.

**A sea of hastily assembled demigods parted for Annabeth as she walked through the forum. Some looked tense, some nervous. Some were bandaged from their recent battle with the giants, but no one was armed. No one attacked.**

**Entire families had gathered to see the newcomers. Annabeth saw couples with babies, toddlers clinging to their parents' legs, even some elderly folks in a combination of Roman robes and modern clothes. Were all of them demigods?**

"Whoa," Travis breathed. "That's a lot of demigods."

"They're not all demigods, there's legacies, too. Descendents of demigods." Artemis explained.

"They live to adulthood?!" Clarisse asked amazed.

The gods nodded their heads.

"Lucky…" Clarisse muttered.

Hazel and Frank looked at everyone curiously. "Greeks don't live very long?"

The gods looked down. "You're lucky if you get past 20," Piper sighed.

Hazel stared at them with wide eyes. "Wow," she mumbled. She grabbed Frank's hand and he blushed slightly.

**Annabeth suspected so, though she'd never seen a place like this. At Camp Half-Blood, most demigods were teens. If they survived long enough to graduate from high school, they either stayed on as counselors or left to start lives as best they could in the mortal world.**

Now Frank looked at the book in wonder. "Huh…**"**

**Here, it was an entire multigenerational community.**

**At the far end of the crowd, Annabeth spotted Tyson the Cyclops and Percy's hellhound, Mrs. O'Leary—who had been the first scouting party from Camp Half-Blood to reach Camp Jupiter. They looked to be in good spirits. Tyson waved and grinned. He was wearing an SPQR banner like a giant bib.**

Thalia and Nico grinned, but Frank grimaced remembering the brother hug he got from him. Hazel laughed at his expression. "You're supposed to be backing me up!" Frank complained, which just made Hazel laugh harder, as Frank sulked.

**Some part of Annabeth's mind registered how beautiful the city was—the smells from the bakeries, the gurgling fountains, the flowers blooming in the gardens. And the architecture …gods, the architecture—gilded marble columns, dazzling mosaics, monumental arches, and terraced villas.**

Everyone rolled their eyes as Athena started talking about how wonderful the architecture was. Clarisse and the Stolls leaned forward, waiting to hear about the Roman Camp.

"Shut up about the architecture!" Poseidon yelled.

**In front of her, the demigods made way for a girl in full Roman armor and a purple cape. Dark hair tumbled across her shoulders. Her eyes were as black as obsidian.**

**Reyna.**

**Jason had described her well. Even without that, Annabeth would have singled her out as the leader. Medals decorated her armor. She carried herself with such confidence the other demigods backed away and averted their gaze.**

Piper looked a little jealous that he could describe her so well, but Jason wrapped his arms around her and she softened up.

Aphrodite looked like she was going to explode. She started jumping up and down and clapping her hands silently.

**Annabeth recognized something else in her face, too—in the hard set of her mouth and the deliberate way she raised her chin like she was ready to accept any challenge. Reyna was forcing a look of courage, while holding back a mixture of hopefulness and worry and fear that she couldn't show in public.**

**Annabeth knew that expression. She saw it every time she looked in a mirror.**

Piper and Hazel sighed, thinking of their friend in danger.

**The two girls considered each other. Annabeth's friends fanned out on either side. The Romans murmured Jason's name, staring at him in awe.**

**Then someone else appeared from the crowd, and Annabeth's vision tunneled.**

"Percy," Hazel whispered.

**Percy smiled at her—that sarcastic, troublemaker smile that had annoyed her for years but eventually had become endearing.**

Athena paused, reading ahead. She turned a little green, and excused herself from the room.

"Um, anyone wanted to read?" Zeus asked awkwardly.

"I will," Thalia sighed.

She took the book and read on.

**His sea-green eyes were as gorgeous as she remembered. His dark hair was swept to one side, like he'd just come from a walk on the beach. He looked even better than he had six months ago—tanner and taller, leaner and more muscular.** **Annabeth was too stunned to move. She felt that if she got any closer to him, all the molecules in her body might combust. She'd secretly had a crush on him since they were twelve years old.**

"Are we done with this mushy stuff yet?" Ares complained.

"I think I'm gonna barf," Clarisse agreed.

**Last summer, she'd fallen for him hard. They'd been a happy couple for four months—and then he'd disappeared.**

Nico, Thalia, Jason, Piper, Leo, Frank, and Hazel glared at Hera.

**During their separation, something had happened to Annabeth's feelings. They'd grown painfully intense—like she'd been forced to withdraw from a life-saving medication. Now she wasn't sure which was more excruciating—living with that horrible absence, or being with him again.**

"Absence is better!" Athena called from the other room.

Poseidon rolled his eyes.

**The praetor Reyna straightened. With apparent reluctance, she turned toward Jason.**

"**Jason Grace, my former colleague …" She spoke the word colleague like it was a dangerous thing. "I welcome you home. And these, your friends—"**

**Annabeth didn't mean to, but she surged forward. Percy rushed toward her at the same time. The crowd tensed. Some reached for swords that weren't there.**

"Please tell me they aren't…" Clarisse began, interrupted by retching noises from the other room.

**Percy threw his arms around her. They kissed, and for a moment nothing else mattered. An asteroid could have hit the planet and wiped out all life, and Annabeth wouldn't have cared.**

Aphrodite passed out cold, while Ares went to join Athena at the Vomit Club in the bathroom. Thalia raised an eyebrow while Nico smirked. "Oof. Little, eh. Egh." Thalia muttered, also green. She quickly handed the book to Nico. "I'm a hunter!" she yelled behind her as she sprinted towards the bathroom. Now the Vomit Club had Athena, Ares, Artemis, and Thalia. Slowly expanding…

**Percy smelled of ocean air. His lips were salty.**

Now everyone shouted "TMI!" while Poseidon licked his lips, shrugging.

**Seaweed Brain, she thought giddily.**

"Um… this sounds very un-Annabeth like," the Stolls muttered. They held up a pad of paper. "Blackmail!" They yelled together.

"I don't think Annabeth will care," Nico pointed out.

**Percy pulled away and studied her face. "Gods, I never thought—"**

**Annabeth grabbed his wrist and flipped him over her shoulder.**

Ares came back in the room, followed by an excited Athena, and a pale Artemis and Thalia.

"Action!" Ares cheered. "Finally!"

"Injure him!" Athena said.

Ares nodded eagerly. This was probably the first time they ever agreed to the same thing.

**He slammed into the stone pavement. Romans cried out. Some surged forward, but Reyna shouted, "Hold! Stand down!"**

**Annabeth put her knee on Percy's chest. She pushed her forearm against his throat.**

**She didn't care what the Romans thought. A white-hot lump of anger expanded in her chest—a tumor of worry and bitterness that she'd been carrying around since last autumn.**

"**If you ever leave me again," she said, her eyes stinging, "I swear to all the gods—"**

**Percy had the nerve to laugh.**

"Dang it." Athena mumbled.

Aphrodite woke up and realized what happened. "Aw, Annabeth. You need more love!"

Athena's head snapped up. "Don't mess with her love life!"

Aphrodite nodded sadly.

**Suddenly the lump of heated emotions melted inside Annabeth.**

"**Consider me warned," Percy said. "I missed you, too."**

**Annabeth rose and helped him to his feet. She wanted to kiss him again so badly, but she managed to restrain herself.**

Ares started to turn a little pale again.

**Jason cleared his throat. "So, yeah .… It's good to be back."**

"Really? That's what you said?" Clarisse demanded. Jason shrugged.

**He introduced Reyna to Piper, who looked a little miffed that she hadn't gotten to say the lines she'd been practicing, then to Leo, who grinned and flashed a peace sign.**

"Well, yeah, I spent forever practicing those lines!" Piper argued.

Leo grinned cheekily and gave a thumbs up. The Stolls and Leo did a strange handshake that included spitting, punching, and weird sound effects.

"Gross." Piper muttered.

"**And this is Annabeth," Jason said. "Uh, normally she doesn't judo-flip people."**

"I wouldn't promise that."

**Reyna's eyes sparkled. "You sure you're not a Roman, Annabeth? Or an Amazon?"**

**Annabeth didn't know if that was a compliment, but she held out her hand. "I only attack my boyfriend like that," she promised. "Pleased to meet you."**

**Reyna clasped her hand firmly. "It seems we have a lot to discuss. Centurions!"**

**A few of the Roman campers hustled forward—apparently the senior officers. Two kids appeared at Percy's side, the same ones Annabeth had seen him chumming around with earlier. The burly Asian guy with the buzz cut was about fifteen. He was cute in a sort of oversized-cuddly-panda-bear way. The girl was younger, maybe thirteen, with amber eyes and chocolate skin and long curly hair. Her cavalry helmet was tucked under her arm.**

Frank fist pumped the air and Hazel giggled. "That's us."

Frank stopped in mid-punch. "Wait… 'cute in a sort of oversized-cuddly-panda-bear way'. What's that supposed to mean?"

Everyone stifled a snicker.

**Annabeth could tell from their body language that they felt close to Percy. They stood next to him protectively, like they'd already shared many adventures. She fought down a twinge of jealousy.** **Was it possible Percy and this girl**

Hazel looked like an owl, her eyes wide. "That's sick! He's like a brother to me! Well technically he's my cousin…"

… **no. The chemistry between the three of them wasn't like that. Annabeth had spent her whole life learning to read people. It was a survival skill. If she had to guess, she'd say the big Asian guy was the girl's boyfriend, though she suspected they hadn't been together long.**

"Impressive."

**There was one thing she didn't understand: what was the girl staring at? She kept frowning in Piper and Leo's direction, like she recognized one of them and the memory was painful.**

**Meanwhile, Reyna was giving orders to her officers. "… tell the legion to stand down. Dakota, alert the spirits in the kitchen. Tell them to prepare a welcome feast. And, Octavian—"**

"**You're letting these intruders into the camp?" A tall guy with stringy blond hair elbowed his way forward. "Reyna, the security risks—"**

Some gods looked annoyed, but Clarisse noticed that Apollo looked embarrassed.

"**We're not taking them to the camp, Octavian." Reyna flashed him a stern look. "We'll eat here, in the forum."**

"**Oh, much better," Octavian grumbled.**

**He seemed to be the only one who didn't defer to Reyna as his superior, despite the fact that he was scrawny and pale and for some reason had three teddy bears hanging from his belt. "You want us to relax in the shadow of their warship."**

"**These are our guests." Reyna clipped off every word. "We will welcome them, and we will talk to them. As augur, you should burn an offering to thank the gods for bringing Jason back to us safely."**

"**Good idea," Percy put in. "Go burn your bears, Octavian."**

The Stolls grinned. "That's the Percy we know!"

**Reyna looked like she was trying not to smile. "You have my orders. Go."**

**The officers dispersed. Octavian shot Percy a look of absolute loathing. Then he gave Annabeth a suspicious once-over and stalked away.**

**Percy slipped his hand into Annabeth's. "Don't worry about Octavian," he said. "Most of the Romans are good people—like Frank and Hazel here, and Reyna. We'll be fine."**

**Annabeth felt as if someone had draped a cold washcloth across her neck. She heard that whispering laughter again, as if the presence had followed her from the ship.**

"What is that?!" Athena grumbled.

**She looked up at the Argo II. Its massive bronze hull glittered in the sunlight. Part of her wanted to kidnap Percy right now, climb on board, and get out of here while they still could.**

**She couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to go terribly wrong. And there was no way she would ever risk losing Percy again.**

"**We'll be fine," she repeated, trying to believe it.**

"**Excellent," Reyna said. She turned to Jason, and Annabeth thought there was a hungry sort of gleam in her eyes. "Let's talk, and we can have a proper reunion."**

Nico, Thalia, Hazel, Frank, Leo, Piper, Jason, Clarisse, and the Stolls looked hopefully at the center of the room, but nothing happened. "Ergh." Thalia muttered.

"Time for bed!" Hera called. Everyone looked at her surprised. "It's 10:38, the guest rooms are to the left, then the right. Got it?"

"Um… ok."

Everyone awkwardly walked towards their rooms, with wistful looks directed towards the middle of the room, where Percy and Annabeth might soon come from.

**Thanks guys! Gotta run!**


	4. Thalia's Dream

**So, quickly: I'm sorry for not updating. I feel like an idiot.**

**Leo: You should!**

**Me: Shut your mouth...**

**Leo: Ma'am, yes ma'am.**

**Anyways... I didn't really check this over because I'm in a rush and I didn't want you to wait longer. So sorry!**

**Disclaimers: I DON'T OWN PERCY JACKSON CHARACTERS OR BOLD LINES!**

**OrangeFace99: Now you make me feel awesome :D**

**WaterMimi23: Really? Didn't see that coming... I'm sorry about the wait...**

**The Demigod Gryffindor: They're coming soon! You'll probably know when... :)**

**ThunderNinjaBird: Humor is my speciality. *bows* (NOT!)**

**Sorry I didn't reply to all, in a rush, but thanks SO MUCH FOR REVIEWING! You made my day. :D**

**Percy and Annabeth are coming in... you know what? I'll just torture you instead and make you find out yourself. :D**

_Everyone awkwardly walked towards their rooms, with wistful looks directed towards the middle of the room, where Percy and Annabeth might soon come from._

-Stealthy Line Break-How do you even make a line break?-

Nico ran to catch up to Thalia. He pushed her into his room, the one with the skull symbol on the door, and closed the door. He hesitated for a second, and then walked into the hallway. Thalia stood frustrated in his guest room, the skull practically glowing on his door. He came back in 5 minutes later, with Leo, Piper, Jason, Hazel, Frank, Clarisse, and the Stolls. Clarisse and the Stolls looked impatient, and Thalia realized why. _He's going to tell us about Percy and Annabeth… oh. I knew that. Right._

"So, um," Nico stammered. "Well, I should probably start at, um." He glanced pleadingly at Hazel to help him out. Thalia flopped onto the cushiony mattress.

"Don't strain yourself," She muttered.

Hazel spoke up. "How much do you know about our quest?"

"About…" Travis pretended to be in a deep thought. "Zero." Connor cupped his hand into an 'o' shape helpfully.

Clarisse slapped both of them across the face. "The seven demigods of the Great Prophecy all met up at the Roman Camp, and they started their quest. That's about all Camp Half Blood knows," she recalled.

"About the same as Clarisse, and what we just read about," Thalia sighed.

"Well, we're only going to tell you about Percy and Annabeth, but not a lot of details, it would lead to… too many questions." Hazel glanced at her flinching friends.

"Percy and Annabeth… kind of… fellintotartarus." She rushed.

"Whaaaat?" Thalia raised an eyebrow.

"Blunt." Nico muttered.

Hazel looked up at them carefully. "They… fell into Tartarus." She swallowed and looked back down at her fingers. Thalia was still processing the information, Clarisse's eyes were wide, and the Stolls' jaws were still in mid-'Whaaaat?'. Thalia picked up a pillow and started hitting her face repeatedly with it, like her brain had a hard drive and it froze.

"They're taking it better than I did." Leo whispered to Jason. Jason winced and nodded.

Clarisse stared at Hazel, almost dangerously. "Did I misunderstand, or did you say _Tartarus?_"

Hazel flinched, and nodded. Then Clarisse did something surprising. She stood up, and sped out of the room. 30 seconds later, loud _Crash_, _Bang, Thump,_ and screaming noises were heard. Eh, not so surprising. She came back in, rather calmly, but had a weird glint in her eye. A few cracks appeared in the wall behind her, and everyone's eyes widened.

"Well, that was enjoyable. I didn't get to leave craters in the walls since the Battle of Manhattan." Jason hoped she was kidding. Then chunks of plaster started falling from the wall.

"I take that back." Leo said weakly.

"Details?" Thalia demanded.

Hazel just sighed and shook her head. "It would lead to too many questions, but I think it will be the book we're reading."

Thalia looked like she wanted to argue, but she just stood up and looked at everyone warily. It's 10:47. I'm going to bed. With that, she strode to her guest room, pain hidden well in her face, her eyes crackling, seeming like they would blast you if you looked directly towards them. Travis and Connor stood up awkwardly, and walked out the doorway, hands stuffed in their pockets. Clarisse shrugged, and went to her room. Everyone else followed shortly after.

-This, my friend, is a stealthy ninja. A stealthy line breaker ninja, to be exact.-

Thalia didn't bother to change. She just slid into her bed and immediately fell asleep.

_'I hate demigod dreams.' She drifted, almost like a ghost, through darkness. ' Well this is depressing. Darkness, creepiness, ghosts… Death Breath would love this. Well… maybe not.' She drifted forwards, towards a shivering figure that seemed to be steadying a stumbling figure. "Seaweed Brain. Look at me. Seaweed Brain!" the first figure pleaded._

_Thalia stumbled back. "Annabeth!" she tried to yell, but no sound came from her mouth. She cursed. She had no choice but to watch. Stupid demigod dreams._

_The second figure, Percy, groaned. He looked at Annabeth, almost helplessly. "She's going to get us. But not how we expected. By our minds." He practically collapsed right after the words left his mouth, and Annabeth grew greatly pale. Thalia wanted to cry right then and there, but she kept watching, scared for her friends' lives. She studied Annabeth. She was dirty, scratched, and had a large cut near her forehead, a nauseous color. She lost a lot of weight, and her eyes were wide and desperate, full of fear. She looked over at Percy, and she silently gasped. He was tremendously thin, and was covered in cuts, bruises, and blood. She looked away. She couldn't stand seeing her friends like this. Annabeth whispered to the limp Percy. "We have to keep running. We can't have _them _catch up."_

Thalia was shaken awake, by a wide-eyed Jason. "Thalia, wake up! Wake up!"

"What?"

"You were crying…. a lot, and you were clawing at the sheets and muttering over and over."

Thalia put her hands to her face, and felt hot tears, still running down her face. "Oh… thanks."

"We have to go to the Throne Room, anyways. Hera practically shouted it through the speakers." He grumbled.

"Speakers?"

He pointed to a PA system above his sky blue bed.

"Okaaaay then. Breakfast in the Throne Room?" Thalia asked skeptically.

Jason shrugged his shoulders. "I guess. You never know with the gods."

-Very, very, very, quiet anti-suspicious stealthy tip-toeing ninja line breaker-

Everyone sat in their seats, either a throne, couch, or bean bag.

"BREAKFASSSST!" Apollo screamed happily, and summoned a gigantic pile of ambrosia and nectar.

"Don't forget the pancakes and SYRUP!" Hermes yelled, summoning pancakes and syrup to the pile, stuffing their mouths cheerfully.

"Just think of what you want, it'll appear." Hera advised.

The room soon filled with every type of breakfast item possible. And then… socks appeared. Everyone looked at Nico, who grabbed them quickly.

"What? You can't just say 'Think of breakfast foods' without thinking of something else. It's like flying, when someone tells you to not look down. You're going to naturally look down!" he argued lamely.

Everyone thought about that. 2 minutes later, the room was filled with polka dot giraffes, peanut butter ninjas, baconater warriors, floating apple sauce pudding, dissolving fire, and many other strange things created from strange minds. 5 fire extinguishers and about 1,000 slaps to the head later, everyone was on the floor laughing, or blown to the floor from the fire extinguishers, their arms crossed stubbornly. Hermes, Apollo, Poseidon, and surprisingly Mr. D gave Nico high-fives. The Stolls jumped up and yelled "Hades, yeah!" while Hades grumbled in the background.

"Back to reading?" Athena waved the book in the air, amazingly unharmed.

"Ah, crud." Apollo started babbling.

Zeus nodded shortly towards Athena, still trying to get up.

Athena looked around. "Who wants to read next?" She called.

Hazel shrugged and took the book, sinking back into the bean bag.

**"Annabeth III," Hazel started, glancing at everyone, who was now all seated.**

**Annabeth wished she had an appetite, because the Romans knew how to eat. Sets of couches and low tables were carted into the forum until it resembled a furniture showroom. Romans lounged in groups of ten or twenty, talking and laughing while wind spirits—****_aurae_****—swirled overhead, bringing an endless assortment of pizzas, sandwiches, chips, cold drinks, and fresh-baked cookies.**

"I'm hungry." Hermes complained. Everyone ignored him.

**Drifting through the crowd were purple ghosts—Lares—in togas and legionnaire armor. Around the edges of the feast, satyrs (no, fauns, Annabeth thought) trotted from table to table, panhandling for food and spare change. In the nearby fields, the war elephant frolicked with Mrs. O'Leary,**

Hazel grinned. Hannibal was sweet, and Mrs. O'Leary seemed nice, from what she'd seen.

**and children played tag around the statues of Terminus that lined the city limits.**

"There's more of him!" Thalia looked frightened at the thought.

**The whole scene was so familiar yet so completely alien that it gave Annabeth vertigo.**

**All she wanted to do was be with Percy—preferably alone. She knew she would have to wait. If their quest was going to succeed, they needed these Romans, which meant getting to know them and building some goodwill.**

**Reyna and a few of her officers (including the blond kid Octavian, freshly back from burning a teddy bear for the gods) **

Hermes snickered and Apollo blushed. Athena raised an eyebrow. _Why isn't he laughing like an idiot? …Oh, Octavian must be related to him. He acts nothing like Apollo, though._

**sat with Annabeth and her crew. **

"Does that remind you of a toddler television show? I mean, it's kind of like 'Scooby Doo and the gang'. It sounds weird…" Everyone stared at Connor as he kept talking. Travis started clapping, jumping up and down.

"I love Scooby Doo!" he said stupidly once he noticed everyone staring, including Connor.

**Percy joined them with his two new friends, Frank and Hazel.**

"We're mentioned…" Frank announced.

**As a tornado of food platters settled onto the table, Percy leaned over and whispered, "I want to show you around New Rome. Just you and me. The place is incredible."**

**Annabeth should've felt thrilled. Just you and me was exactly what she wanted. Instead, resentment swelled in her throat. How could Percy talk so enthusiastically about this place? What about Camp Half-Blood—their camp, their home?She tried not to stare at the new marks on Percy's forearm—an SPQR tattoo like Jason's.**

Clarisse frowned. "That's permanent. So you'd be Roman. Permanently."

**At Camp Half-Blood, demigods got bead necklaces to commemorate years of training. Here, the Romans burned a tattoo into your flesh, as if to say: You belong to us. Permanently.**

Clarisse nodded.

**She swallowed back some biting comments. "Okay. Sure."**

**"I've been thinking," he said nervously. "I had this idea—"**

**He stopped as Reyna called a toast to friendship.**

**After introductions all around, the Romans and Annabeth's crew began exchanging stories. Jason explained how he'd arrived at Camp Half-Blood without his memory, and how he'd gone on a quest with Piper and Leo to rescue the goddess Hera (or Juno, take your pick—she was equally annoying in Greek or Roman)**

Hera glared at the book, like Annabeth might be there.

**from imprisonment at the Wolf House in northern California.**

**"Impossible!" Octavian broke in. "That's our most sacred place. If the giants had imprisoned a goddess there—"**

**"They would've destroyed her," Piper said. "And blamed it on the Greeks, and started a war between the camps. Now, be quiet and let Jason finish."**

**Octavian opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Annabeth really loved Piper's charmspeak.**

Piper grinned. "It's pretty useful."

Nobody noticed the Stolls sulking in their seats.

**She noticed Reyna looking back and forth between Jason and Piper, her brow creased, as if just beginning to realize the two of them were a couple.**

Aphrodite sighed happily.

**"So," Jason continued, "that's how we found out about the earth goddess Gaea. She's still half asleep, but she's the one freeing the monsters from Tartarus and raising the giants. Porphyrion, the big leader dude we fought at the Wolf House: he said he was retreating to the ancient lands—Greece itself. He plans on awakening Gaea and destroying the gods by … what did he call it? Pulling up their roots."**

**Percy nodded thoughtfully. "Gaea's been busy over here, too. We had our own encounter with Queen Dirt Face."**

Nico and Thalia face palmed.

**Percy recounted his side of the story. He talked about waking up at the Wolf House with no memories except for one name—Annabeth.**

**When she heard that, Annabeth had to try hard not to cry.**

**Percy told them how he'd traveled to Alaska with Frank and Hazel—how they'd defeated the giant Alcyoneus, freed the death god Thanatos, and returned with the lost golden eagle standard of the Roman camp to repel an attack by the giants' army.**

**When Percy had finished, Jason whistled appreciatively. "No wonder they made you praetor."**

**Octavian snorted. "Which means we now have three praetors! The rules clearly state we can only have two!"**

"**On the bright side," Percy said, "both Jason and I outrank you, Octavian. So we can both tell you to shut up."**

"Yeah!"

**Octavian turned as purple as a Roman T-shirt. Jason gave Percy a fist bump.**

**Even Reyna managed a smile, though her eyes were stormy.**

"**We'll have to figure out the extra praetor problem later," she said. "Right now we have more serious issues to deal with."**

"**I'll step aside for Jason," Percy said easily. "It's no biggie."**

"**No biggie?" Octavian choked. "The praetorship of Rome is no biggie?"**

"Yeah." Jason said casually. "No biggie. Just one of the highest ranks. Ever."

**Percy ignored him and turned to Jason. "You're Thalia Grace's brother, huh? Wow. You guys look nothing alike."** "**Yeah, I noticed," Jason said. "Anyway, thanks for helping my camp while I was gone. You did an awesome job."**

"**Back at you," Percy said.**

**Annabeth kicked his shin. She hated to interrupt a budding bromance,**

Some people glanced at the book strangely.

**but Reyna was right: they had serious things to discuss. "We should talk about the Great Prophecy. It sounds like the Romans are aware of it too?"**

**Reyna nodded. "We call it the Prophecy of Seven. Octavian, you have it committed to memory?"**

"**Of course," he said. "But, Reyna—"**

"**Recite it, please. In English, not Latin."**

**Octavian sighed. "Seven half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall—"**

"**An oath to keep with a final breath," Annabeth continued. "And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death."**

**Everyone stared at her—except for Leo, who had constructed a pinwheel out of aluminum foil taco wrappers and was sticking it into passing wind spirits.**

"That was fun. Too bad I didn't have a lot of time to experiment more." Leo frowned.

**Annabeth wasn't sure why she had blurted out the lines of the prophecy. She'd just felt compelled.**

**The big kid, Frank, sat forward, staring at her in fascination, as if she'd grown a third eye.**

"Just curious." Frank put his hands up in surrender.

"**Is it true you're a child of Min—I mean, Athena?"** "**Yes," she said, suddenly feeling defensive. "Why is that such a surprise?"**

**Octavian scoffed. "If you're truly a child of the wisdom goddess—"**

Athena glared at the book.

"**Enough," Reyna snapped. "Annabeth is what she says. She's here in peace. Besides …" She gave Annabeth a look of grudging respect. "Percy has spoken highly of you."**

**The undertones in Reyna's voice took Annabeth a moment to decipher. Percy looked down, suddenly interested in his cheeseburger.**

**Annabeth's face felt hot. Oh, gods … Reyna had tried to make a move on Percy. That explained the tinge of bitterness, maybe even envy, in her words. Percy had turned her down for Annabeth.**

"Whoa, whoa, _whoa._" Leo made a time-out symbol with his hands. "When did this happen? I didn't even get to video tape it?"

"Nope." Nico stuck his tongue out maturely.

**At that moment, Annabeth forgave her ridiculous boyfriend for everything he'd ever done wanted to throw her arms around him, but she commanded herself to stay cool.**

"**Uh, thanks," she told Reyna. "At any rate, some of the prophecy is becoming clear. Foes bearing arms to the Doors of Death … that means Romans and Greeks. We have to combine forces to find those doors."**

**Hazel, the girl with the cavalry helmet and the long curly hair, picked up something next to her plate. It looked like a large ruby; but before Annabeth could be sure, Hazel slipped it into the pocket of her denim shirt.**

Hades looked sad, and Hazel gave him a small smile.

"**My brother, Nico, went looking for the doors," she said.**

"**Wait," Annabeth said. "Nico di Angelo? He's your brother?"**

"Dun dun _dun_…." Leo made hand gestures meant for scary stories, for special effects. Piper fidgeted in her seat.

"Oh, I can't take it!" she cried, and stood up. She walked towards Leo and briskly smacked him across the face, and sat back down like nothing happened.

Jason stuffed his fist into his mouth to stop laughing at Leo's face.

**Hazel nodded as if this were obvious. A dozen more questions crowded into Annabeth's head, but it was already spinning like Leo's pinwheel. She decided to let the matter go. "Okay. You were saying?"**

"**He disappeared." Hazel moistened her lips. "I'm afraid … I'm not sure, but I think something's happened to him."**

"**We'll look for him," Percy promised. "We have to find the Doors of Death anyway. Thanatos told us we'd find both answers in Rome—like, the original Rome. That's on the way to Greece, right?"**

"**Thanatos told you this?" Annabeth tried to wrap her mind around that idea. "The death god?"**

"No, he's the god of finger paints. Oh course he's the god of death!" Ares rolled his eyes.

"I don't think that's what she meant." Frank hesitated.

**She'd met many gods. She'd even been to the Underworld; but Percy's story about freeing the incarnation of death itself really creeped her out.**

**Percy took a bite of his burger. **

Connor gave a 'thumbs up', while Travis kept talking. "Cheeseburger? Bacon burger? Was there pickles?"

"HOW SHOULD I KNOW?!" Frank exclaimed, tired of the Stolls. _And I just met them…_

**"Now that Death is free, monsters will disintegrate and return to Tartarus again like they used to. But as long as the Doors of Death are open, they'll just keep coming back."**

**Piper twisted the feather in her hair. "Like water leaking through a dam," she suggested.**

"**Yeah." Percy smiled. "We've got a dam hole."**

Thalia and Nico snickered.

"**What?" Piper asked.**

"**Nothing," he said. "Inside joke. The point is we'll have to find the doors and close them before we can head to Greece. It's the only way we'll stand a chance of defeating the giants and making sure they stay defeated."**

**Reyna plucked an apple from a passing fruit tray. She turned it in her fingers, studying the dark red surface. "You propose an expedition to Greece in your warship. You do realize that the ancient lands—and the Mare Nostrum—are dangerous?"**

"**Mary who?" Leo asked.**

"Why can't our children ever pronounce something Greek or Roman? They're Greek, or Roman. They should know how to pronounce this stuff." Zeus wondered.

The other gods just shrugged.

"**Mare Nostrum," Jason explained. "Our Sea. It's what the Ancient Romans called the Mediterranean."**

**Reyna nodded. "The territory that was once the Roman Empire is not only the birthplace of the gods.**

**It's also the ancestral home of the monsters, Titans and giants … and worse things. As dangerous as travel is for demigods here in America, there it would be ten times worse."**

"**You said Alaska would be bad," Percy reminded her. "We survived that."**

**Reyna shook her head. Her fingernails cut little crescents into the apple as she turned it. "Percy, traveling in the Mediterranean is a different level of danger altogether. It's been off limits to Roman demigods for centuries. No hero in his right mind would go there."**

"Then you guys should be fine, you're all crazy anyways," Poseidon pointed out.

Dionysus scanned the demigods. "No, they're fine. No-wait a second…" he paused in front of a grinning Leo. "Eh, right at the borders. Never mind." He said, a little disappointed.

Leo frowned. "No, I AM crazy, lady. Er, I mean…" he trailed off, the Stolls laughing their heads off.

Dionysus grumbled something about stupid brats.

"**Then we're good!" Leo grinned over the top of his pinwheel.**

"More prove!" Poseidon observed.

"**Because we're all crazy, right? Besides, the Argo II is a top-of-the-line warship. She'll get us through."**

"**We'll have to hurry," Jason added. "I don't know exactly what the giants are planning, but Gaea is growing more conscious all the time. She's invading dreams, appearing in weird places, summoning more and more powerful monsters. We have to stop the giants before they can wake her up fully."**

**Annabeth shuddered. She'd had her own share of nightmares lately.**

"**Seven half-bloods must answer the call," she said. "It needs to be a mix from both our camps. Jason, Piper, Leo, and me. That's four."**

"**And me," Percy said. "Along with Hazel and Frank. That's seven."**

"**What?" Octavian shot to his feet. "We're just supposed to accept that? Without a vote in the senate? Without a proper debate? Without—"**

"Oh, shut up!" the entire council whined.

"**Percy!"**

**Tyson the Cyclops bounded toward them with Mrs. O'Leary at his heels. On the hellhound's back sat the skinniest harpy Annabeth had ever seen—a sickly-looking girl with stringy red hair, a sackcloth dress, and red-feathered wings.**

**Annabeth didn't know where the harpy had come from, but her heart warmed to see Tyson in his tattered flannel and denim with the backward SPQR banner across his chest. She'd had some pretty bad experiences with Cyclopes, but Tyson was a sweetheart. He was also Percy's half brother (long story), which made him almost like family.**

**Tyson stopped by their couch and wrung his meaty hands. His big brown eye was full of concern. "Ella is scared," he said.**

"**N-n-no more boats," the harpy muttered to herself, picking furiously at her feathers. "Titanic, Lusitania, Pax … boats are not for harpies."**

"But, didn't she go on the boat with us on our quest?" Frank asked.

"She probably joined the Seasick Club with me," Hazel muttered.

"There seems to be many options for my Club-Choosing career. I don't know which one to choose, there's so many! The Vomit Club, Seasick Club… I think I'll wait for some better choices- like, for instance, an Awesome Club, with me as founder, of course!" Leo exclaimed happily.

"And me as President!"

"I'm Admiral!"

"I'm Captain!"

"We're not on a ship."

"Your point?"

**Leo squinted. He looked at Hazel, who was seated next to him. "Did that chicken girl just compare my ship to the Titanic?"**

"**She's not a chicken." Hazel averted her eyes, as if Leo made her nervous. "Ella's a harpy. She's just a little … high-strung."**

Hazel thought about that comment.

"**Ella is pretty," Tyson said. "And scared. We need to take her away, but she will not go on the ship."**

"Eeeeep!"

"**No ships," Ella repeated. She looked straight at Annabeth. "Bad luck. There she is. Wisdom's daughter walks alone—"**

"**Ella!" Frank stood suddenly. "Maybe it's not the best time—"**

"**The Mark of Athena burns through Rome," Ella continued, cupping her hands over her ears and raising her voice. "Twins snuff out the angel's breath, Who holds the key to endless death.**

Leo smiled. "Like me, when I won't listen. Or when Piper tries to get me to clean my cabin with her charmspeak." He added as an after thought.

**Giants' bane stands gold and pale, Won through pain from a woven jail."**

**The effect was like someone dropping a flash grenade on the table. Everyone stared at the harpy. No one spoke. Annabeth's heart was pounding. The Mark of Athena … She resisted the urge to check her pocket, but she could feel the silver coin growing warmer—the cursed gift from her mother. Follow the Mark of Athena. Avenge me.**

_Ohhhh crud. Not good. Not good. I really gave it to her. Stupid Athena. Stupid Athena. _Athena banged her head into her hands repeatedly, which made some people nervous. I mean, the wisdom goddess seems to be going crazy.

**Around them, the sounds of the feast continued, but muted and distant, as if their little cluster of couches had slipped into a quieter dimension.**

**Percy was the first to recover. He stood and took Tyson's arm.**

"**I know!" he said with feigned enthusiasm. "How about you take Ella to get some fresh air? You and Mrs. O'Leary—"**

"**Hold on." Octavian gripped one of his teddy bears, strangling it with shaking hands. His eyes fixed on Ella. "What was that she said? It sounded like—"**

"**Ella reads a lot," Frank blurted out. "We found her at a library."**

"**Yes!" Hazel said. "Probably just something she read in a book."**

"**Books," Ella muttered helpfully. "Ella likes books."**

**Now that she'd said her piece, the harpy seemed more relaxed. She sat cross-legged on Mrs. O'Leary's back, preening her wings.**

**Annabeth gave Percy a curious glance. Obviously, he and Frank and Hazel were hiding something. Just as obviously, Ella had recited a prophecy—a prophecy that concerned her.**

**Percy's expression said, Help.**

Athena looked up at the book curiously. This harpy sounds like a good person. Er, harpy, I guess.

"**That was a prophecy," Octavian insisted. "It sounded like a prophecy."**

**No one answered.**

**Annabeth wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but she understood that Percy was on the verge of big trouble.**

**She forced a laugh. "Really, Octavian? Maybe harpies are different here, on the Roman side. Ours have just enough intelligence to clean cabins and cook lunches. Do yours usually foretell the future? Do you consult them for your auguries?"**

"That'll get 'em," Apollo muttered.

**Her words had the intended effect. The Roman officers laughed nervously. Some sized up Ella, then looked at Octavian and snorted. The idea of a chicken lady issuing prophecies was apparently just as ridiculous to Romans as it was to Greeks.** "**I, uh…" Octavian dropped his teddy bear. "No, but—"**

"**She's just spouting lines from some book," Annabeth said, "like Hazel suggested. Besides, we already have a real prophecy to worry about."**

"Good subject change." Hermes nodded approvingly.

**She turned to Tyson. "Percy's right. Why don't you take Ella and Mrs. O'Leary and shadow-travel somewhere for a while. Is Ella okay with that?"**

"'**Large dogs are good,'" Ella said. "Old Yeller, 1957, screenplay by Fred Gipson and William Tunberg."**

"Um, ok then." Travis and cluelessly.

Athena just smiled. This harpy sounded smart. A teeny crazy, but smart.

**Annabeth wasn't sure how to take that answer, but Percy smiled like the problem was solved.** "**Great!" Percy said. "We'll Iris-message you guys when we're done and catch up with you later."**

**The Romans looked at Reyna, waiting for her ruling. Annabeth held her breath.**

**Reyna had an excellent poker face. She studied Ella, but Annabeth couldn't guess what she was thinking.**

"**Fine," the praetor said at last. "Go."**

"**Yay!" Tyson went around the couches and gave everyone a big hug—even Octavian, who didn't look happy about it.**

"He deserved it," Hera muttered.

**Then he climbed on Mrs. O'Leary's back with Ella, and the hellhound bounded out of the forum. They dove straight into a shadow on the Senate House wall and disappeared.**

"**Well." Reyna set down her uneaten apple. "Octavian is right about one thing. We must gain the senate's approval before we let any of our legionnaires go on a quest—especially one as dangerous as you're suggesting."**

"**This whole thing smells of treachery," Octavian grumbled. "That trireme is not a ship of peace!"**

"Really? Didn't notice."

"**Come aboard, man," Leo offered. "I'll give you a tour. You can steer the boat, and if you're really good I'll give you a little paper captain's hat to wear."**

The Stolls grinned. "That's the spirit!"

Leo flinched and frowned. Athena had no clue why.

**Octavian's nostrils flared. "How dare you—"**

"**It's a good idea," Reyna said. "Octavian, go with him. See the ship. We'll convene a senate meeting in one hour."**

"**But …" Octavian stopped. Apparently he could tell from Reyna's expression that further arguing would not be good for his health. "Fine."**

**Leo got up. He turned to Annabeth, and his smile changed. It happened so quickly, Annabeth thought she'd imagined it; but just for a moment someone else seemed to be standing in Leo's place, smiling coldly with a cruel light in his eyes. **

Hephaestus looked worried. _That's not the Leo I know. Ever. What the Hades is going on?_

Athena seemed to be thinking deeply. _Possessing spirits? Who or what? _

**Then Annabeth blinked, and Leo was just regular old Leo again, with his usual impish grin.**

Piper shivered violently. "What's the matter?" Jason asked.

"That whole situation," She grumbled.

"**Back soon," he promised. "This is gonna be epic."**

"I bet it will," Connor stated matter-of-factly.

**A horrible chill settled over her.**

"Like on the ship." Athena murmured.

**As Leo and Octavian headed for the rope ladder, she thought about calling them back—but how could she explain that? Tell everyone she was going crazy, seeing things and feeling cold?**

"Yeah," Travis said simply.

**The wind spirits began clearing the plates.**

"**Uh, Reyna," Jason said, "if you don't mind, I'd like to show Piper around before the senate meeting. She's never seen New Rome."**

"Smooth."

"Oh, shut up!"

**Reyna's expression hardened.**

**Annabeth wondered how Jason could be so dense. Was it possible he really didn't understand how much Reyna liked him? It was obvious enough to Annabeth. Asking to show his new girlfriend around Reyna's city was rubbing salt in a wound.**

"Oops," Jason said sheepishly.

"**Of course," Reyna said coldly.**

**Percy took Annabeth's hand. "Yeah, me, too. I'd like to show Annabeth—"**

"**No," Reyna snapped.**

"Well that's not fair." Thalia said.

**Percy knit his eyebrows. "Sorry?"**

"**I'd like a few words with Annabeth," Reyna said. "Alone. If you don't mind, my fellow praetor."**

**Her tone made it clear she wasn't really asking permission.**

**The chill spread down Annabeth's back. She wondered what Reyna was up to. Maybe the praetor didn't like the idea of two guys who had rejected her giving their girlfriends tours of her city. Or maybe there was something she wanted to say in private. Either way, Annabeth was reluctant to be alone and unarmed with the Roman leader.**

"**Come, daughter of Athena." Reyna rose from her couch. "Walk with me."**

Connor chuckled. "That sounds like one of those emperor dudes who speak to everyone weird."

"That made sense." Clarisse rolled her eyes.

Everyone immediately shut up (for the first time that day, I might add) as a bright light filled the middle of the room, illuminating everyone's faces with a glowing shade of gray. The light flickered momentarily, then shut off completely, leaving two figures in the middle of the Throne Room.

**Thank you guys so much for being (almost) patient with my idiot brain. *huffs in annoyance* Tell me what I should work on, and what I did good on! Please review! (How do you do a line break?)**

**-Stealth**

**Travis: Ya know, even tho your pen name is Stealth, you're not very stealthy.**

**Me: SHUT UP!**


	5. Leo, stop spazzing out!

**Hey Guys! So, I know you're all like, "She's just lazy. She'll update soon. Probably."**

**Well guess what? You're WRONG! This took me 4 days to write, mainly because of the lack of time available. 23 pages on Microsoft. Am I awesome or what?! *crickets***

**Wonderful. I feel loved. Anyways, I wanted you to check out the story annabetheverdeen7dobby wrote. It's amazing!**

**WaterMimi23: I will definitely check out your story, I've been trying to find a new story. Should I PM you?**

**OrangeFace99: Sorry about that. I was really tired. Thanks for all of the reviews! :D**

**allen r: Thank you. :D**

**Thalia Ginny C: I'll try. :3**

**KaraokeLeo: …I like your username. *grins cheekily***

**_Disclaimer: Send it away, Leo! _**

**_Leo:… *looks up from project* "Wha?" _**

**_Me: I shall insert a face palm… *face palm*_**

**_Hazel: *pushes Leo out of the view of the screen with a dignified 'Hey!' from Leo* Stealth over here *jerks thumb over to a smiling me* doesn't own PJO or HOO. Or any of the bold. *stalks away with head high*_**

**_Me: "Well, thanks. I guess."_**

**_Leo: "Ow…"_**

_Everyone immediately shut up (for the first time that day, I might add) as a bright light filled the middle of the room, illuminating everyone's faces with a glowing shade of gray. The light flickered momentarily, then shut off completely, leaving two figures in the middle of the Throne Room._

Everyone craned their necks to see the coughing figures stumble out of the light. Thalia had her head in her hands, shaking her head violently. _Just like the dream. Do I get a break?_

Their clothes were ripped and dirt covered their bodies. They had cuts and scrapes all over their arms, legs, and face. Percy and Annabeth were at Olympus.

O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o Line Break O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o

"You're alive!" All the demigods cheered happily. The gods just looked at them strangely.

Percy stumbled then passed out cold, Annabeth swayed and did the same. Piper and Hazel ran and tried to catch them to prevent their bodies from suffering further.

What they didn't realize was that they would be caught in their memories.

"_Annabeth! Run!" Percy was stuck… in or what, Hazel and Piper couldn't tell. _

"_No! You really think I would leave you?!" Annabeth looked close to tears._

_Another cut appeared above Percy's head. "She's getting stronger…" he muttered. _

Hazel and Piper jerked away. They didn't want to see this. The surprised gods were still sitting there, pale at the scene in front of them. Apollo seemed to be the first to recover, possibly from his medical instincts kicking in. He walked carefully towards the unconscious couple, unlike the obnoxious god he was 10 minutes ago. He flashed in bandages, some weird ointment, and other unrecognizable objects. He felt their foreheads, only to be caught in their overwhelming memories. Apollo's eyes glazed over as he was forced to watch their flashbacks.

_Annabeth and Percy ran, or rather limped, through dark tunnels, caves, tremendous pitch black rooms. Annabeth's ankle had bubble wrap and pieces of wood covering it as a cast, and Apollo was tempted to fix the quickly made cast. Percy's left leg was bent in an odd way, and he winced at every step he took. 'Broken tibia,' Apollo realized. _

_Percy started cursing, a lot. 'Very colorfully,' Apollo added. He was about to start jotting some down for later, but realized he was getting off topic. 'Main question: Where are they? No one would stinking tell me,' Apollo whined in his head. _

"_Why does this have to be so complicated?" Percy panted._

_Annabeth jumped over a large rock sticking out of the ground. "The spirit of Tartarus is married to Gaea, so of course he would be helping her."_

"_How could he help Gaea? He's in the Underworld," Apollo muttered to himself._

"_Didn't I tell you this earlier?" Percy just shook his head, mainly concentrating on running._

"_Jeez. Ok, let me make it simple, so you might actually remember. Gaea doesn't like us. Gaea married Tartarus. That means Tartarus won't like us. If we're in Tartarus' territory, Tartarus will try even harder to kill us. Got it?" Percy only nodded his head, before dodging an outstretched branch sprouting from a damp wall._

Apollo stumbled away from Percy and Annabeth. _They're… They're…. in the pits of Tartarus!_

Apollo was panicking a little. Hermes was really worried about Percy and Annabeth. Anything that can make Apollo panicked or depressed was terrifying. Him being the sun god, he usually looks at the, um, bright side of things. The gods were all staring at the center of the room. Poseidon and Athena were quietly hyperventilating to themselves. Here were their favorite children, half dead, their pasts scaring the happiest god known on Olympus.

Athena quickly flashed in two white couches, and floated Percy and Annabeth to the separate couches. She wasn't stupid. She saw what happened when someone touched them. Their memories were transferred to another mind involuntarily, most likely because they were too painful to keep to themselves.

"No one touch them, let them rest," she sighed.

Athena's mind was still working furiously, though. _Where were they?!_ She practically screamed in her mind.

"Reading again?" Frank looked down. He was so excited that Percy and Annabeth were still alive, but he can't talk to them!

"Can I read?" Hestia asked softly. Hazel smiled and nodded, passing the book to Hestia.

**"Annabeth IV,"** Hestia began.

**Annabeth wanted to hate New Rome. But as an aspiring architect, she couldn't help admiring the terraced gardens, the fountains and temples, the winding cobblestone streets and gleaming white villas.**

The Stolls facepalmed. Jeez, if you're gonna be impressed by Camp Whatever-it-was at least let it be from food, maybe weapons, or even HUMOR. Not buildings or whatever. Thalia looked at Annabeth fondly. _That's the Annie I know._

**After the Titan War last summer, she'd gotten her dream job of redesigning the palaces of Mount Olympus. Now, walking through this miniature city, she kept thinking, I should have made a dome like that. I love the way those columns lead into that courtyard. Whoever designed New Rome had clearly poured a lot of time and love into the project. "We have the best architects and builders in the world," Reyna said, as if reading her thoughts. "Rome always did, in the ancient times. Many demigods stay on to live here after their time in the legion. They go to our university. They settle down to raise families. Percy seemed interested in this fact."**

Aphrodite squeaked into the palm of her hand.

**Annabeth wondered what that meant. She must have scowled more fiercely than she realized, because Reyna laughed.**

**"You're a warrior, all right," the praetor said. "You've got fire in your eyes."**

**"Sorry." Annabeth tried to tone down the glare.**

Ares pouted. "No fight?"

"Eh… How about… no." Athena said with no expressions.

**"Don't be. I'm the daughter of Bellona."**

**"Roman goddess of war?"**

Athena started grumbling something about goddesses taking her place, as she grew brighter and brighter. Zeus nervously glanced at Hestia for her to continue.

**Reyna nodded. She turned and whistled like she was hailing a cab. A moment later, two metal dogs raced toward them—automaton greyhounds, one silver and one gold. They brushed against Reyna's legs and regarded Annabeth with glistening ruby eyes.**

**"My pets," Reyna explained. "Aurum and Argentum. You don't mind if they walk with us?"**

"That's practically a rhetorical question," Nico pointed out.

"It was." Thalia rolled her eyes at his stupidity.

**Again, Annabeth got the feeling it wasn't really a request. She noted that the greyhounds had teeth like steel arrowheads. Maybe weapons weren't allowed inside the city, but Reyna's pets could still tear her to pieces if they chose.**

**Reyna led her to an outdoor café, where the waiter clearly knew her. He smiled and handed her a to-go cup, then offered one to Annabeth.**

**"Would you like some?" Reyna asked. "They make wonderful hot chocolate. Not really a Roman drink—"**

**"But chocolate is universal," Annabeth said.**

**"Exactly."**

Travis grinned at that. "Uhhh huh." He stretched out the words as long as possible, or until people started glaring at him.

**It was a warm June afternoon, but Annabeth accepted the cup with thanks. The two of them walked on, Reyna's gold and silver dogs roaming nearby.**

**"In our camp," Reyna said, "Athena is Minerva. Are you familiar with how her Roman form is different?"**

**Annabeth hadn't really considered it before. She remembered the way Terminus had called Athena that goddess, as if she were scandalous. Octavian had acted like Annabeth's very existence was an insult.**

Hazel growled quietly.

**Reyna blew steam from her cup. "We respect Minerva. She's the goddess of crafts and wisdom …but she isn't really a goddess of war. Not for Romans. She's also a maiden goddess, like Diana …the one you call Artemis. You won't find any children of Minerva here. The idea that Minerva would have children—frankly, it's a little shocking to us."**

**"I take it Minerva isn't … uh, quite as respected here?"**

**Reyna blew steam from her cup. "We respect Minerva. She's the goddess of crafts and wisdom …but she isn't really a goddess of war. Not for Romans. She's also a maiden goddess, like Diana …the one you call Artemis. You won't find any children of Minerva here. The idea that Minerva would have children—frankly, it's a little shocking to us."**

"Dramatic!" Leo singed.

Frank rolled his eyes. "Hypocrite."

"Exsqueeze me?" Leo asked mockingly.

"Leo!"

"Sure, sure. Mock Leo."

"How did I-?"

"Oh. My. Gods. LEO!" Piper yelled.

"That's my name. Try not to wear it out," Leo complained.

Piper banged her head into her hands. Leo just grinned happily, quietly giving the Stolls fist bumps.

**"Oh." Annabeth felt her face flush. She didn't want to get into the details of Athena's children—how they were born straight from the mind of the goddess, just as Athena herself had sprung from the head of Zeus.**

"Let's not," Athena firmly said after seeing Hermes curious expression.

**Talking about that always made Annabeth feel self-conscious, like she was some sort of freak. People usually asked her whether or not she had a belly button, since she had been born magically. Of course she had a belly button. She couldn't explain how. She didn't really want to know.**

Hermes reached out into empty space and grabbed a pen and pad of paper, scribbling furiously onto the pad. Athena narrowed her eyes dangerously.

**"I understand that you Greeks don't see things the same way," Reyna continued. "But Romans take vows of maidenhood very seriously. The Vestal Virgins, for instance … if they broke their vows and fell in love with anyone, they would be buried alive. So the idea that a maiden goddess would have children—" "Got it." Annabeth's hot chocolate suddenly tasted like dust. No wonder the Romans had been giving her strange looks.**

**"I'm not supposed to exist. And even if your camp had children of Minerva—"**

"I get it." Athena grumbled. "They just enjoy mocking me, don't they?"

**"They wouldn't be like you," Reyna said. "They might be craftsmen, artists, maybe advisers, but not warriors. Not leaders of dangerous quests."**

**Annabeth started to object that she wasn't the leader of the quest. Not officially. But she wondered if her friends on the Argo II would agree. The past few days, they had been looking to her for orders—even Jason, who could have pulled rank as the son of Jupiter, and Coach Hedge, who didn't take orders from anyone.**

"Gleeson's special like that," Apollo smirked.

**"There's more." Reyna snapped her fingers, and her golden dog, Aurum, trotted over. The praetor stroked his ears. "The harpy Ella … it was a prophecy she spoke. We both know that, don't we?"**

**Annabeth swallowed. Something about Aurum's ruby eyes made her uneasy. She had heard that dogs could smell fear, even detect changes in a human's breathing and heartbeat. She didn't know if that applied to magical metal dogs, but she decided it would be better to tell the truth.**

Hazel and Frank nodded.

**"It sounded like a prophecy," she admitted. "But I've never met Ella before today, and I've never heard those lines exactly."**

**"I have," Reyna murmured. "At least some of them—"**

**A few yards away, the silver dog barked. A group of children spilled out of a nearby alleyway and gathered around Argentum, petting the dog and laughing, unfazed by its razor-sharp teeth.**

**"We should move on," Reyna said.**

**They wound their way up the hill. The greyhounds followed, leaving the children behind. Annabeth kept glancing at Reyna's face. A vague memory started tugging at her—the way Reyna brushed her hair behind her ear, the silver ring she wore with the torch and sword design.**

Piper, Jason, Leo, Frank, and Hazel looked at the book curiously. She knew Reyna?

**"We've met before," Annabeth ventured. "You were younger, I think."**

**Reyna gave her a dry smile. "Very good. Percy didn't remember me.**

"Well, he kinda, you know, lost his memories. Typical." Hermes mock thought aloud.

**Of course you spoke mostly with my older sister Hylla, who is now queen of the Amazons. She left just this morning, before you arrived. At any rate, when we last met, I was a mere handmaiden in the house of Circe."**

"Circe?" Piper raised an eyebrow. Poseidon groaned quietly and nodded.

**"Circe …" Annabeth remembered her trip to the island of the sorceress. She'd been thirteen. Percy and she had washed ashore from the Sea of Monsters.**

"Where's that?" Jason asked.

"Bermuda Triangle," Clarisse shuddered a little. Or a lot.

**Hylla had welcomed them. She had helped Annabeth get cleaned up and given her a beautiful new dress and a complete makeover. Then Circe had made her sales pitch: if Annabeth stayed on the island, she could have magical training and incredible power. Annabeth had been tempted, maybe just a little, until she realized the place was a trap, and Percy had been turned into a rodent. (That last part seemed funny afterward; but at the time, it had been terrifying.)**

"If only she caught that on tape." Leo shook his head sadly.

Everyone else was on the floor laughing. Oh course Percy wouldn't want to mention that little teeny tiny detail on his quest. Hazel and Frank were tearing up a little. Compared to the Percy on their quest, Percy the rodent was hilarious.

Jason snickered. Percy Jackson, defeater of Kronos, or Percy Jackson, part time rodent. Na, I'll go with the second one he decided, grinning evilly.

Leo and the Stolls were huddled in a little circle, whispering rapidly. On what, everyone was too scared to ask.

Piper was giggling uncontrollably. There goes his 'powerful and strong' reputation!

Nico and Thalia smiled. Typical for Percy not that much of a surprise coming from him.

Clarisse was grinning, almost manically, maybe even in an insane way. Maybe Mr.D had finally cracked her. Or she found blackmail. Possibly both.

The gods were another story. Most had already watched this from Olympus, while others _*cough* Apollo and Hermes *cough*_ had video taped it, placed it on Hephaestus TV with a little help of Hermes hacking abilities, and replayed it. Over. And over. And _over._ Poseidon on the other hand, was muttering into his hands. Athena was openly laughing.

"Ok, ok. We get it," Poseidon tried to calm everyone down. Hestia giggled lightly and continued reading.

**As for Reyna … she'd been one of the servants who had combed Annabeth's hair.**

**"You …" Annabeth said in amazement. "And Hylla is queen of the Amazons? How did you two—?"**

**"Long story," Reyna said. "But I remember you well. You were brave. I'd never seen anyone refuse Circe's hospitality, much less outwit her. It's no wonder Percy cares for you."**

**Her voice was wistful. Annabeth thought it might be safer not to respond.**

Aphrodite winced then nodded.

**They reached the top of the hill, where a terrace overlooked the entire valley.**

**"This is my favorite spot," Reyna said. "The Garden of Bacchus."**

**Grapevine trellises made a canopy overhead. Bees buzzed through honeysuckle and jasmine, which filled the afternoon air with a dizzying mix of perfumes. In the middle of the terrace stood a statue of Bacchus in a sort of ballet position, wearing nothing but a loincloth, his cheeks puffed out and lips pursed, spouting water into a fountain.**

The gods shivered, while Dionysus just huffed. "Hate that garden," he muttered.

**Despite her worries, Annabeth almost laughed. She knew the god in his Greek form, Dionysus—or Mr. D, as they called him back at Camp Half-Blood. Seeing their cranky old camp director immortalized in stone, wearing a diaper and spewing water from his mouth, made her feel a little better.**

Dionysus huffed again, while Nico, Leo, the Stolls, and Clarisse held back laughter.

**Reyna stopped at the edge of the terrace. The view was worth the climb. The whole city spread out below them like a 3-D mosaic. To the south, beyond the lake, a cluster of temples perched on a hill. To the north, an aqueduct marched toward the Berkeley Hills. Work crews were repairing a broken section, probably damaged in the recent battle.**

**"I wanted to hear it from you," Reyna said.**

**Annabeth turned. "Hear what from me?"**

**"The truth," Reyna said. "Convince me that I'm not making a mistake by trusting you. Tell me about yourself. Tell me about Camp Half-Blood. Your friend Piper has sorcery in her words.**

Piper looked down.

**I spent enough time with Circe to know charmspeak when I hear it. I can't trust what she says. And Jason … well, he has changed. He seems distant, no longer quite Roman."**

Jason crossed his arms and huffed childishly. Piper giggled while Jason just pouted.

**The hurt in her voice was as sharp as broken glass. Annabeth wondered if she had sounded that way, all the months she'd spent searching for Percy. At least she'd found her boyfriend. Reyna had no one. She was responsible for running an entire camp all by herself. Annabeth could sense that Reyna wanted Jason to love her. But he had disappeared, only to come back with a new girlfriend. Meanwhile, Percy had risen to praetor, but he had rebuffed Reyna too. Now Annabeth had come to take him away. Reyna would be left alone again, shouldering a job meant for two people.**

"Oh well! She's taking Percy anyways!" Thalia said smiling with her head towards the ceiling.

Jason face palmed mentally. _I don't think that's what she meant._

**When Annabeth had arrived at Camp Jupiter, she'd been prepared to negotiate with Reyna or even fight her if needed. She hadn't been prepared to feel sorry for her.**

Jason started shaking his head, almost panicked. "Don't. She doesn't like that."

**She kept that feeling hidden. Reyna didn't strike her as someone who would appreciate pity.**

Surprisingly Aphrodite nodded her head in agreement.

**Instead, she told Reyna about her own life. She talked about her dad and stepmom and her two stepbrothers in San Francisco, and how she had felt like an outsider in her own family. She talked about how she had run away when she was only seven, finding her friends Luke and Thalia and making her way to Camp Half-Blood on Long Island. She described the camp and her years growing up there. She talked about meeting Percy and the adventures they'd had together.**

"Careful what you say…" Athena trailed off, eying her unconscious daughter. She sighed.

**Reyna was a good listener.**

**Annabeth was tempted to tell her about more recent problems: her fight with her mom, the gift of the silver coin, and the nightmares she'd been having—about an old fear so paralyzing, she'd almost decided that she couldn't go on this quest.**

Artemis glanced at Athena curiously. _The Mark of Athena. Where have I heard of that before?_

Athena was basically cradling her arms, but her eyes were closed calmly.

**But she couldn't bring herself to open up quite that much.**

Athena barely nodded. Zeus stared at her, almost scared. _Why is the goddess of wisdom acting insane? Does Dionysus have a grudge against her…_

**When Annabeth was done talking, Reyna gazed over New Rome. Her metal greyhounds sniffed around the garden, snapping at bees in the honeysuckle. Finally Reyna pointed to the cluster of temples on the distant hill.**

**"The small red building," she said, "there on the northern side? That's the temple of my mother, Bellona." Reyna turned toward Annabeth. "Unlike your mother, Bellona has no Greek equivalent. She is fully, truly Roman. She's the goddess of protecting the homeland."**

Athena's eyes snapped open. "That useless, hungry fame stealer, ravenous spotlight wanter…"

"…taking my place!" she continued.

Leo had his hands over an annoyed looking Nico's ears. "Language! There's children present!" Leo exclaimed, pointing at Nico. Nico scowled when Thalia snickered.

"I'm older than you," Nico muttered at Leo.

"I'm 16. You're 13." Leo said as if he was talking to a 5 year old.

"Well, height wise…"

"Shut up Beauty Queen."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Actually, I'm about 78." He decided to leave it at that, for _mysterious _effects.

Thalia just rolled her eyes at Nico's antics. _Jeez, he has to work on his mysteriousness._

Clarisse, Hazel, Travis, and Connor had perfect poker faces on, and Hades just smirked.

Everyone else, however, were currently gaping at the laughing Nico. Leo looked frustrated that his plan backfired, Jason's jaw was almost touching the floor, Piper raised an eyebrow at Nico in a _So-when-did-this-happen-and-why-was-I-not-included ?_ kind of way. Frank's expression was priceless, which Hermes quickly took advantage of with a camera.

"How?" Piper demanded. Nico shrugged 'mysteriously'. Piper rolled her eyes and grabbed him by his aviator jacket. "Now," she muttered. "Drop the mysterious act. Doesn't suit you." Thalia smiled at Piper, and Piper grinned back.

"Drop the bully act. _That _doesn't suit you."

Piper pushed her arm into his throat. "How 'bout now?"

"Ok,ok. Cut it out. Only response: Lotus Hotel."

"What?"

"Nico was alive during World War II. Due to, uh, family problems, he was dipped into the River Lethe, so he forgot all of his memories, sent to the Lotus Hotel, where time stands still, for 70 years. You don't age in there, but you get addicted to the games in there and it becomes impossible to resist. You forget about all of your past once you become attached to the games at the Lotus Hotel. You never want to leave. Allecto eventually came and took him out, about 3 or 4 years ago. It's like the modern version of the tale of Odysseus, who was offered lotus leaves in the disguise of normal food. They're like drugs, makes you forget about your surroundings and your past." Thalia supplied.

Nico put his head in his hands.

Leo's mouth formed an 'o'.

"Oh. My. Gods." Hazel whispered. Nico didn't really go into details with his past.

Most of the gods sat there in surprise.

"Thanks Thalia." Nico's voice was muffled through his hands.

"Welcome."

"Sarcasm," Nico grumbled. Hades looked angrily at Zeus, who fidgeted uncomfortably.

"Let's keep reading," Hestia decided.

**Annabeth said nothing. She knew very little about the Roman goddess. She wished she had studied up, but Latin never came as easily to her as Greek. Down below, the hull of the Argo II gleamed as it floated over the forum, like some massive bronze party balloon.**

"Are you sure we're not reading from Percy's point of view?" Travis joked.

Nico's head was still in his hands.

**"When the Romans go to war," Reyna continued, "we first visit the Temple of Bellona. Inside is a symbolic patch of ground that represents enemy soil. We throw a spear into that ground, indicating that we are now at war. You see, Romans have always believed that offense is the best defense. In ancient times, whenever our ancestors felt threatened by their neighbors, they would invade to protect themselves." "They conquered everyone around them," Annabeth said. "Carthage, the Gauls—"**

**"And the Greeks." Reyna let that comment hang.**

"Rude," Athena muttered.

"Go Romans!" Ares yelled. Everyone glared at him and he shut up, even though Hazel, Frank, and Jason were tempted to join in.

**"My point, Annabeth, is that it isn't Rome's nature to cooperate with other powers. Every time Greek and Roman demigods have met, we've fought. Conflicts between our two sides have started some of the most horrible wars in human history—especially civil wars."**

**"It doesn't have to be that way," Annabeth said. "We've got to work together, or Gaea will destroy us both."**

**"I agree," Reyna said. "But is cooperation possible? What if Juno's plan is flawed? Even goddesses can make mistakes."**

"Yes they do." Thalia glared at Hera. Hera shot a glare back towards Thalia.

**Annabeth waited for Reyna to get struck by lightning or turned into a peacock. Nothing happened.**

"Darn," Ares grumbled.

_Darn is right._ Thalia thought. She wasn't liking Reyna. Piper was along the same lines as Thalia.

**Unfortunately, Annabeth shared Reyna's doubts. Hera did make mistakes. Annabeth had had nothing but trouble from that overbearing goddess, and she'd never forgive Hera for taking Percy away, even if it was for a noble cause.**

**"I don't trust the goddess," Annabeth admitted. "But I do trust my friends. This isn't a trick, Reyna. We can work together."**

**Reyna finished her cup of chocolate. She set the cup on the terrace railing and gazed over the valley as if imagining battle lines.**

**"I believe you mean it," she said. "But if you go to the ancient lands, especially Rome itself, there is something you should know about your mother."**

Athena narrowed her eyes at this.

**Annabeth's shoulders tensed. "My—my mother?"**

**"When I lived on Circe's island," Reyna said, "we had many visitors. Once, perhaps a year before you and Percy arrived, a young man washed ashore. He was half mad from thirst and heat. He'd been drifting at sea for days. His words didn't make much sense, but he said he was a son of Athena."**

Athena sighed. Artemis closed her eyes. _What was it? Similar situation… A daughter of Athena became a hunter during a quest for… The Mark of Athena? What is it? I only have a few clues…_

**Reyna paused as if waiting for a reaction. Annabeth had no idea who the boy might have been. She wasn't aware of any other Athena kids who'd gone on a quest in the Sea of Monsters, but still she felt a sense of dread. The light filtering through the grapevines made shadows writhe across the ground like a swarm of bugs.**

**"What happened to this demigod?" she asked.**

**Reyna waved her hand as if the question was trivial. "Circe turned him into a guinea pig, of course.**

Apollo shuddered. "We aren't all pigs!"

"Just you and Hermes. And Ares." Hera muttered.

"Thanks Mother." Ares grumbled.

Artemis thought Circe was on the right track. _All pigs…_

**He made quite a crazy little rodent. But before that, he kept raving about his failed quest. He claimed that he'd gone to Rome, following the Mark of Athena."**

Athena growled. One of her children was turned into a guinea pig! "That was Matt McCartney." She said sadly.

**Annabeth grabbed the railing to keep her balance.**

**"Yes," Reyna said, seeing her discomfort.**

Piper raised an eyebrow. "Very rude…"

**"He kept muttering about wisdom's child, the Mark of Athena, and the giants' bane standing pale and gold. The same lines Ella was just reciting. But you say that you've never heard them before today?"**

"She hasn't!" Hazel cried exasperatedly.

**"Not—not the way Ella said them." Annabeth's voice was weak. She wasn't lying. She'd never heard that prophecy, but her mother had charged her with following the Mark of Athena; and as she thought about the coin in her pocket, a horrible suspicion began taking root in her mind. She remembered her mother's scathing words. She thought about the strange nightmares she'd been having lately. "Did this demigod—did he explain his quest?"**

**Reyna shook her head. "At the time, I had no idea what he was talking about. Much later, when I became praetor of Camp Jupiter, I began to suspect."**

**"Suspect … what?"**

**"There is an old legend that the praetors of Camp Jupiter have passed down through the centuries. If it's true, it may explain why our two groups of demigods have never been able to work together. It may be the cause of our animosity. Until this old score is finally settled, so the legend goes, Romans and Greeks will never be at peace. And the legend centers on Athena—"**

**A shrill sound pierced the air. Light flashed in the corner of Annabeth's eye.**

**She turned in time to see an explosion blast a new crater in the forum.**

Ares leaned forward with a stupid grin on his face. Leo mentally groaned and hid in the farthest corner of his suddenly small beanbag.

"Giants…?" Hephaestus wondered aloud.

**A burning couch tumbled through the air. Demigods scattered in panic.**

**"Giants?" Annabeth reached for her dagger, which of course wasn't there. "I thought their army was defeated!"**

Artemis narrowed her eyes. Something was off…

**"It isn't the giants." Reyna's eyes seethed with rage. "You've betrayed our trust."**

Hera scoffed. "As if. I planned my strategy carefully!"

Jason snickered to himself. Juno hasn't been careful lately, like when she was captured at the Wolf House, the two Camps fighting at Camp Jupiter, Camp Jupiter currently leading an attack on Camp Half Blood, switching the two _leaders _of the Camps, which equaled an angry Annabeth, and so on.

**"What? No!"**

**As soon as she said it, the Argo II launched a second volley.**

Leo dug further into the beanbag, not going unnoticed by Artemis and Athena.

Artemis started making predictions. _Probably one of the males. You can never trust a male._

Athena was also thinking. _A spy on the ship? __Traitor? Well, it's not Jason, he's a Roman. Hazel and Frank weren't on the ship. No wait, no one was on the ship besides… Octavian and Leo. Which one? Stupid question. Octavian, most likely._

**Its port ballista fired a massive spear wreathed in Greek fire, which sailed straight through the broken dome of the Senate House and exploded inside, lighting up the building like a jack-o'-lantern. If anyone had been in there …**

**"Gods, no." A wave of nausea almost made Annabeth's knees buckle.**

Clarisse shook her head. "Gotta be stronger than that."

**"Reyna, it isn't possible. We'd never do this!"**

**The metal dogs ran to their mistress's side. They snarled at Annabeth but paced uncertainly, as if reluctant to attack.**

**"You're telling the truth," Reyna judged. "Perhaps you were not aware of this treachery, but someone must pay."**

**Down in the forum, chaos was spreading. Crowds were pushing and shoving. Fistfights were breaking out.**

Athena stomped her foot in frustration. "That'll just cause more chaos. Stupid Romans."

"But chaos… is fun. Right?" Ares looked around for support.

"Wait." Apollo started waving his arms all around to get everyone's attention. Or because he just thought it was fun. Either way.

"About 200 Romans," he faced the palm of his hand towards the ceiling on one side. "Against about 4 Greeks?" He put his other hand on the other side of him.

Poseidon put his head in his hands. "Thanks for the thoughts, Apollo." Apollo nodded. Hephaestus sighed. His son was on the ship when they fired. Would they blame it on him?

If possible, Leo sank even further into his seat. _They're going to think it was me. My own dad is going to think I betrayed everyone. _

Piper noticed Leo sulking. "Leo, it was _not _your fault. Get it straight!" she whispered. "You are not guilty about this, because it is not your fault." She added as an afterthought, with a tint of charmspeak. Leo nodded absentmindedly, his eyes glazed and glassy. He shook his head, his eyes returning back to normal.

"Jeez. Was that necessary?"

_Yes. It distracted you. Operation Distraction success. _Piper mentally threw her fist into the air.

**"Bloodshed," Reyna said.**

**"We have to stop it!"**

**Annabeth had a horrible feeling this might be the last time Reyna and she ever acted in agreement, but together they ran down the hill.**

**If weapons had been allowed in the city, Annabeth's friends would have already been dead.**

Aphrodite let out a sigh. She almost forgot about Terminus' rules.

Everyone else looked at her strangely.

**The Roman demigods in the forum had coalesced into an angry mob. Some threw plates, food, and rocks at the Argo II, which was pointless, as most of the stuff fell back into the crowd.**

"Stupid," Clarisse muttered.

**Several dozen Romans had surrounded Piper and Jason, who were trying to calm them without much luck. Piper's charmspeak was useless against so many screaming, angry demigods. Jason's forehead was bleeding. His purple cloak had been ripped to shreds. He kept pleading, "I'm on your side!" but his orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt didn't help matters—nor did the warship overhead, firing flaming spears into New Rome. One landed nearby and blasted a toga shop to rubble.**

Zeus growled.

Athena groaned. "Octavian! I'm going to kill you!"

Hera looked very annoyed. "I'll help," she muttered. "Ruined all of my plans."

Leo started planning his emergency exit. _Large doorway? How 'bout no. Closet? Why is there even a closet in here? Exit door behind thrones? Bingo._

He creeped towards the back of Hermes' throne, quite stealthily I might add. Then, a hand came out of no where and yanked him back into his beanbag. "You. Are. Staying here, you wimp." Piper hissed, though Leo could tell she was trying not to laugh.

"Beauty Queen!" he whined. "Not funny! They'll all want to kill me!"

"They'll read about the eidolons," she argued.

"But not until a few days after the attack on Camp Jupiter!" he moaned. Piper paused.

"I'll protect you. Now get some guts, wits, few more inches in height, and you'll be all good."

Leo rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the help."

**"Pluto's pauldrons," Reyna cursed. "Look."**

Hades growled. "Stop cursing with my name!" he groaned.

**Armed legionnaires were hurrying toward the forum. Two artillery crews had set up catapults just outside the Pomerian Line and were preparing to fire at the Argo II.**

**"That'll just make things worse," Annabeth said.**

Athena nodded.

**"I hate my job," Reyna growled. She rushed off toward the legionnaires, her dogs at her side.**

**_Percy_, Annabeth thought, scanning the forum desperately._Where are you?_**

_"WE NEED YOU!" Travis yelled randomly. Connor caught on._

_"Little Einsteins…" he continued._

_"…YEAH!" Nico finished._

_Everyone looked at Nico. "We kind of expected something like that from the Stolls, but __you?__" Hazel asked. _

_Nico furrowed his eyebrows. "Why not?" he pouted._

_"Never mind." Hazel rolled her eyes._

**Two Romans tried to grab her. She ducked past them, plunging into the crowd. As if the angry Romans, burning couches, and exploding buildings weren't confusing enough, hundreds of purple ghosts drifted through the forum, passing straight through the demigods' bodies and wailing incoherently. The fauns had also taken advantage of the chaos. They swarmed the dining tables, grabbing food, plates, and cups. One trotted by Annabeth with his arms full of tacos and an entire pineapple between his teeth.**

Apollo made the 'thumbs up' motion.

**A statue of Terminus exploded into being, right in front of Annabeth. He yelled at her in Latin, no doubt calling her a liar and a rule breaker; but she pushed the statue over and kept running.**

"No no no." Hermes wagged his finger. "Big no no."

"They're still unconscious." Piper and Hazel shuddered, remembering the visions they saw.

Thalia and Nico looked really worried.

**Finally she spotted Percy. He and his friends, Hazel and Frank, were standing in the middle of a fountain as Percy repelled the angry Romans with blasts of water. Percy's toga was in tatters, but he looked unhurt.**

"Figures."

"I wonder if Hestia can read a paragraph without someone interrupting," Thalia muttered. Hazel giggled. Leo still looked like he wanted to run for it.

**Annabeth called to him as another explosion rocked the forum. This time the flash of light was directly overhead. One of the Roman catapults had fired, and the Argo II groaned and tilted sideways, flames bubbling over its bronze-plated hull.**

Hephaestus winced. His children worked very hard on that ship, over 6 months.

Leo didn't look much better.

**Annabeth noticed a figure clinging desperately to the rope ladder, trying to climb down. It was Octavian, his robes steaming and his face black with soot.**

**Over by the fountain, Percy blasted the Roman mob with more water. Annabeth ran toward him, ducking a Roman fist and a flying plate of sandwiches.**

**"Annabeth!" Percy called. "What—?"**

**"I don't know!" she yelled.**

**"I'll tell you what!" cried a voice from above. Octavian had reached the bottom of the ladder. "The Greeks have fired on us! Your boy Leo has trained his weapons on Rome!"**

Leo sulked in the shadows. _Almost like Nico._ Hazel noticed.

Hephaestus scoffed. Leo would never do that!

**Annabeth's chest filled with liquid hydrogen. She felt like she might shatter into a million frozen pieces.**

**"You're lying," she said. "Leo would never—"**

**"I was just there!" Octavian shrieked. "I saw it with my own eyes!"**

"More likely you did it!" Hephaestus growled.

Leo looked on the verge of tears, and Piper kept charmspeaking him when no one was watching.

_I fired on Rome. I'm the seventh wheel. I caused one of the main problems during this quest, the Romans are now against us. Because of me._

Piper glared at Leo. "Stop thinking like that!" she muttered.

"How did you know…?"

"Your expression kind of gave it away."

Artemis paused. Why would Octavian fire on his Camp? Something still wasn't right…

**The Argo II returned fire. Legionnaires in the field scattered as one of their catapults was blasted to splinters.**

**"You see?" Octavian screamed. "Romans, kill the invaders!"**

**Annabeth growled in frustration. There was no time for anyone to figure out the truth. The crew from Camp Half-Blood was outnumbered a hundred to one, and even if Octavian had managed to stage some sort of trick (which she thought likely),**

"Nope." Leo whispered.

**they'd never be able to convince the Romans before they were overrun and killed.**

**"We have to leave," she told Percy. "Now."**

**He nodded grimly. "Hazel, Frank, you've got to make a choice. Are you coming?"**

**Hazel looked terrified, but she donned her cavalry helmet. "Of course we are. But you'll never make it to the ship unless we buy you some time."**

**"How?" Annabeth asked.**

**Hazel whistled. Instantly a blur of beige shot across the forum. A majestic horse materialized next to the fountain. He reared, whinnying and scattering the mob. Hazel climbed on his back like she'd been born to ride. Strapped to the horse's saddle was a Roman cavalry sword.**

"Arion." Hazel beamed.

Demeter turned sharply. "Arion! How is he?" Poseidon asked.

Hazel fidgeted. "Fine. He let me ride him."

Poseidon nodded. "Good."

**Hazel unsheathed her golden blade. "Send me an Iris-message when you're safely away, and we'll rendezvous," she said. "Arion, ride!"**

**The horse zipped through the crowd with incredible speed, pushing back Romans and causing mass panic.**

"There's one solution…"

**Annabeth felt a glimmer of hope. Maybe they could make it out of here alive. Then, from halfway across the forum, she heard Jason shouting.**

**"Romans!" he cried. "Please!"**

**He and Piper were being pelted with plates and stones. Jason tried to shield Piper, but a brick caught him above the eye. He crumpled, and the crowd surged forward.**

Thalia looked worried.

"Romans really don't use loyalty and trust that often, do they?" Piper wondered out loud. "They knew Jason for years, he's their _praetor_, and with one suspicion, they're already trying to kill him."

Jason winced.

**"Get back!" Piper screamed. Her charmspeak rolled over the mob, making them hesitate, but Annabeth knew the effect wouldn't last. Percy and she couldn't possibly reach them in time to help.**

**"Frank," Percy said, "it's up to you. Can you help them?"**

**Annabeth didn't understand how Frank could do that all by himself, but he swallowed nervously.**

**"Oh, gods," he murmured. "Okay, sure. Just get up the ropes. Now."**

**Percy and Annabeth lunged for the ladder. Octavian was still clinging to the bottom, but Percy yanked him off and threw him into the mob.**

"Yay." Hermes cheered silently.

**They began to climb as armed legionnaires flooded into the forum. Arrows whistled past Annabeth's head. An explosion almost knocked her off the ladder. Halfway up, she heard a roar below and glanced down.**

**Romans screamed and scattered as a full-sized dragon charged through the forum—**

Ares looked at Frank proudly. Clarisse gaped towards Ares and Frank. Ares rarely showed any emotions towards his kids.

Frank nervously smiled.

**a beast even scarier than the bronze dragon figurehead on the Argo II. It had rough gray skin like a Komodo lizard's and leathery bat wings. Arrows and rocks bounced harmlessly off its hide as it lumbered toward Piper and Jason, grabbed them with its front claws, and vaulted into the air.**

**"Is that …?" Annabeth couldn't even put the thought into words.**

**"Frank," Percy confirmed, a few feet above her. "He has a few special talents."**

**"Understatement," Annabeth muttered.**

"Really?" Thalia said sarcastically.

**"Keep climbing!"**

**Without the dragon and Hazel's horse to distract the archers, they never would have made it up the ladder; but finally they climbed past a row of broken aerial oars and onto the deck. The rigging was on fire. The foresail was ripped down the middle, and the ship listed badly to starboard.**

**There was no sign of Coach Hedge, but Leo stood amidships, calmly reloading the ballista. Annabeth's gut twisted with horror.**

All the gods turned to Leo in shock. _Oh. Now it makes sense. But why would Leo fire on Camp Jupiter? He isn't blood thirsty, and he definitely wouldn't want his prized ship damaged. What..?_ Artemis thought.

Hephaestus looked frozen. He didn't seem to be moving.

Leo was also frozen, but not from emotions. Piper was now directly behind him, using the strongest charmspeak she could. She didn't want to see Leo's reactions to the gods' thoughts and emotions. "You can only focus on one thing. Only focus on my voice. Only focus on my voice."

Aphrodite noticed Leo's glazed eyes and dazed appearance. _Charmspeak. Piper's helping him, so he probably isn't a traitor or whatever. If Piper trusts him, then I won't be mad at him._

Most of the demigods were fearing Leo's reactions. Clarisse was angry, he messed up the quest! The Stolls were surprised. Leo was an awesome pranking helper. They didn't believe he did this. I mean, we're talking about Leo here!

Athena didn't blame Leo. This isn't in his patterns of behaviors, something else…

Surprisingly, Artemis didn't blame Leo. The pieces don't fit together…

Leo's mind was fighting Piper's charmspeak. _Let me move! Zeus is gonna barbeque me!_

Piper was starting to look tired. "Hestia, keep reading," she said quickly.

**"Leo!" she screamed. "What are you doing?"**

**"Destroy them …" He faced Annabeth. His eyes were glazed. His movements were like a robot's. "Destroy them all."**

Leo was still staring blankly into space, but he involuntarily shuddered.

Athena breathed out in relief. "Don't you get it?" she asked unbelievably. "Hello? He's being possessed. It's not him firing on Camp Jupiter. Duh!"

Everyone processed that information. "Oh…"

Piper stopped the charmspeak, and flopped onto the couch.

Leo started shuddering rapidly, kind of like when he took a bet from Connor and drank 8 cups of heavily caffeinated coffee. Everyone stared at him. Piper paused for a second. "After effect sometimes," she started. "If you are struggling to move around when you're being charmspoken, once you're let out of the trance all of your movement is let out, and you start acting to all of the motions you were trying to do, but much faster." She sounded a little worried.

"Keep reading."

**He turned back to the ballista, but Percy tackled him. Leo's head hit the deck hard, and his eyes rolled up so that only the whites showed.**

"A little harsh," Nico winced.

**The gray dragon soared into view. It circled the ship once and landed at the bow, depositing Jason and Piper, who both collapsed.**

**"Go!" Percy yelled. "Get us out of here!"**

**With a shock, Annabeth realized he was talking to her.**

**She ran for the helm. She made the mistake of glancing over the rail and saw armed legionnaires closing ranks in the forum, preparing flaming arrows. Hazel spurred Arion, and they raced out of the city with a mob chasing after them. More catapults were being wheeled into range. All along the Pomerian Line, the statues of Terminus were glowing purple, as if building up energy for some kind of attack.**

"Oh crud." Thalia murmured.

**Annabeth looked over the controls. She cursed Leo for making them so complicated. No time for fancy maneuvers, but she did know one basic command: Up.**

**She grabbed the aviation throttle and yanked it straight back. The ship groaned. The bow tilted up at a horrifying angle. The mooring lines snapped, and the Argo II shot into the clouds.**

"End of the chapter." Hestia looked like a lonely, slightly surprised 8 year old.

"Lunch?" Thalia asked hopefully.

"I would hope so." A voice, weak but clear, called out.

"You're awake. Percy." Hazel breathed.

**Review if you have any suggestions! Thanks!**

**-Stealth (tehe :3)**


	6. Knives there, knives EVERYWHERE!

***sing song voice* I updated EARLY! Since I'll be busy/out all weekend I tried extra EXTRA hard to update today. Yesterday, I saw that I reached 100 reviews, and I was sooo surprised. I jumped up, and started dancing to 'Don't Stop the Music' and 'Scream and Shout'. Yeah! c:I'm pretty sure I closed the poll, it shows up like that, right?**

**Awesomeness: Thanks, I think I'll need it.**

**Smojo12: Thanks, I was kinda confused by that.**

**paradiseisland101: You... complimented... me? :O But...But... you're like a ****_goddess_**** in Fanfiction. Wha... Thank you. ****_So much!_**** *shell shocked***

**KairacahraFlower Goddess: Oh, Oh! *kindergartner raises hand* My turrrn! You know how Sparta was a very violant place? So Ares would be the patron, logical, right? Wrong. It was ****_Apollo_****! ^-^**

**ClearBear: Good, good. :D**

**SeraphAnaklusmos: Thanks, I'm trying. To study. :/**

**4everpercabeth007: *raises hand in the air* I shall never stop! I'll always keep going! (That made sense, right?)**

**OrangeFace99: Whew, thanks... I think?**

**annabetheverdeen7dobby: *lazy eyes* Oh, thanks. I feel loved.**

**Smiley: Oh oh! *claps hands cheerfully* that's good to know!**

**PJO rulz: I agree with you on that. .-. (eep, monkey bars!)**

**Kayla-Lo: Maybe I should make harsh promises any more...**

**Sorry, I'm too lazy (Just remember the monkey bars .-.) to write all of them, which I think is amazing to have that problem in the first place! (No, not like that.)**

**Random Fact: A golf ball has 336 dimples in it. (...I don't play golf. ._.)**

**Random Leo Quote:"Can we just call them storm spirits?" Leo asked. "Venti makes them sound like evil espresso drinks." **

**Um, Leo? No. .-.**

_"Lunch?" Thalia asked hopefully. _

_"I would hope so." A voice, weak but clear, called out._

_"You're awake. Percy." Hazel breathed._

O.o-O.o-O.o-O.o-O.o-O.o-O.o-O.o-O.o-O.o-O.o-O.o-O. o-O.o-O.o-O.o-O.o-O.o-O.o

All the demigods just wanted to give Percy a hug.

I mean, c'mon! Percy and Annabeth practically just came from hell. Well, they did that before, so… more like they came back from death, I guess.

_What did I ever do to The Fates for them to hate me? _ Thalia wondered.

They had no idea if they could touch them, without the freaky superpower stuff happening. Piper shuddered. Athena cleared her throat.

Everyone glanced at Athena, and she nodded towards Percy and Annabeth. _So… they aren't gonna blast me with the freaky memories? Okay! I can live with that!_

In that split second, all of the demigods ambushed poor Percy. Clarisse stood next to him with the look 'I better get a good explanation. Now spit it out.' plastered on her face. You know that expression?

Leo was doing a…. happy dance? Victory lap? The world shall never know. Hazel was bouncing on the heels of her feet, her lips pulled slightly upwards. Piper was on her toes, bouncing to an energetic rhythm. Frank grinned at Percy, who gave a small smile in return. Jason gave a bright smile worthy of Apollo, and Thalia punched Percy in the arm playfully. He winced. Nico furrowed his eyebrows. _Was I that vulnerable when I got out of Tartarus? I hope he didn't go insane... He's not a son of Hades, and he's been in there longer… _Nico wondered worriedly. The Stolls yelled in Percy's face, in case he couldn't hear them. "PERCYYYYYY! OUR PRANKING PARTNER IN CRIME IS BACK!" Percy pushed his hands in his temples. "Yup. Apparently." He muttered to himself. Nico started worrying again.

The gods still had no idea what was going on. Athena kept glancing at Annabeth, who still hadn't woken up. Poseidon stared at Percy and Annabeth. _They look… battered. Weak. Suffering. Vulnerable._ _I should probably stop do this before I get depressed. _Aphrodite winced at their appearances. _I'll give them a makeover later today, she_ decided. Apollo rushed over them, fussing about cuts, scrapes, damage, dirt _("Infections. Ugh." He muttered.")_, and who knows what else.

Percy turned to Annabeth, who was still unconscious. Her face looked uncomfortable. He shook her awake. "Percy?" she murmured. She took in her surroundings, and she suddenly looked calmer, less alert. "We're… out?" her voice was hoarse, but still strong. Percy nodded. A note appeared on his lap, and he picked it up. "Um…"

"Read it," Thalia urged.

_Percy and Annabeth,_

_You most likely do not know why you are here. We have sent the gods a book on your latest quest, your search for the Mark of Athena and sailing to Rome and Greece. We have collected enough power to take you out of… never mind. You will be reading with them. And sadly, once this is over you will have to return to where you were earlier. Can't change the fate and destiny of heroes, but you can read about them. _

_The Fates_

Annabeth leaned into Percy. "Andddd we have to go back," she muttered. Percy shivered. He cursed quietly to himself, and this time Apollo whipped out a pad of paper and a pen and started jotting down notes.

"So… we're, reading?" Annabeth asked wearily. She looked tired, and there were circles under her eyes.

"Um, yeah." Apollo was still kind of paralyzed from his discoveries.

Athena narrowed her eyes. She'd have to corner Apollo later.

"Can… I read it?" Annabeth stumbled over her words.

Hestia nodded and gave the book to her. "Which chapter?" Annabeth seemed to brighten a little bit, so close to a book again.

"Um… Leo V." Hestia trailed off.

Leo groaned, and gave Piper the baby seal eyes. Piper just shook her head at his childishness. Annabeth looked up. "Only Percy can do that," she murmured fondly. Percy smiled a little bit.

"It's true," Thalia muttered in annoyance.

Nico nodded with a weird expression. Annoyance, admiration, and jealousy. "No one else can persuade Thalia," he grumbled.

Percy and Annabeth glanced at each other when two more bean bags appeared. They shrugged and fell into them.

A bright light interrupted the whispering group. A girl was screaming loudly, with a narrow figure standing calmly next to her, scanning their surroundings. She pulling the screaming the girl out of the smoke and slapped her face.

_Wait no, it's just Octavian._ Nico thought, a smirk on his face.

All of the demigods scowled at Octavian. Jason, Leo, and Frank got ready to slug him in the face as soon as he turned towards them. Reyna saw the demigods behind her and her eyes widened. Octavian was currently babbling to the gods, who were watching in amusement, about how honored he was to be present in front of them. Reyna slammed her hand over his mouth. He stopped talking and glared at her, probably thinking about how she interrupted his chance of getting the spot of Praetor right away. She put her hands on her hips, and pointed behind them. Octavian grew purple, while the demigods stifled their laughs. "KILL THE ENEMIES! KILL THEM! KILL THEM ALL! NOT ONE SHALL SURVIVE! DIE!" he ranted. He seemed to have an idea, because he turned towards the gods. "Do I have your permission to kill the _Greeks_, Lords and Ladies?" he spat out the word 'Greek' like it was poison, or Hermes' sock.

"Eh, no." Hermes grinned. Octavian pounced towards Leo, who quickly dodged. Octavian landed on the floor with a faint _thud_. He quickly sat up and stared at Hermes. "Lord Mercury. They're enemies. We're the powerful Romans." Octavian spoke like he was talking to a 3 year old.

"No," Hermes started, winking at his sons. "_You're _the enemy, Octavian. We're the powerful Greeks. And I'm Hermes, not Mercury." He ignored the slight flicker of his form.

Octavian gaped at the Olympians, which made the demigods laugh even harder. They weren't trying to hide it anymore. Even the gods were laughing to themselves. Reyna hid in the corner, her head in her hands, shaking her head in embarrassment.

"More Greeks," he muttered. He hurled a dagger to the side quickly, thinking no one was expecting it. Percy ducked, and the dagger stuck in the wall, vibrating violently. Percy took the dagger. "Nice try." He smirked, and pocketed the weapon. Octavian scowled.

"May I remind you, little Octavian," Poseidon put in for good measure. "That we are still gods."

Octavian gulped at the reminder. "Y-Yes Lord."

"Go sit over there, squirt." Apollo snickered quietly. Octavian brightened a little at his relative. Apollo pointed to the corner at the side of the room, where a beanbag waited. Octavian nodded, and glared at the snickering demigods, minus Reyna.

A purple beanbag popped up next to the couch. "Here you go, Reyna." Hermes grinned. "Thank you, Lord Mer-Hermes," she said. Hermes nodded.

"If I may ask," Reyna started hesitantly. "Why are we… here?"

"We are reading about the seven demigods'," Reyna glared at the people who destroyed Camp Jupiter. "quest to find the… Mark of Athena, and their journey to Rome." Artemis paused, thinking about the Mark of Athena.

"Interesting." Reyna wondered if she could get information out of this to help destroy their camp, like they did to hers. Those little traitors. They probably forced Jason, Frank, and Hazel into it!

"Start reading, Annabeth," Athena said gently.

Reyna scanned through the demigods. _Jason, Piper, Frank, Hazel,….Leo, a beat up version of Percy and Annabeth, two twins, Nico Di Angelo, a punk girl, and most likely a daughter of Ma-Ares. Well, the twins look like sons of Hermes. Who's the punk girl? 12 total. _

Annabeth flipped to the right page. "**Leo V,"** she began. Leo grinned. "Yeah know, Annie, we were reading in your point of view the last, I don't know, four chapters," he said innocently. "You have quite the unique mind for a daughter of Athena," he added.

Annabeth glared. "Let me remind you, we're about to read your thoughts," she pointed out. He nodded slightly, still annoyed by this minor fact.

"That's my Wise Girl," Percy smiled.

**Leo wished he could invent a time machine. He'd go back two hours and undo what had happened. Either that, or he could invent a Slap-Leo-in-the-Face machine to punish himself,**

"You should really make one of those," Piper said thoughtfully.

"You should," Octavian called out from the corner.

"No one asked you!" Leo grumpily replied.

**though he doubted it would hurt as badly as the look Annabeth was giving him.**

"Yeah that's pretty creepy." Percy, Nico, and Thalia shivered.

"**One more time," she said. "Exactly what happened?"**

**Leo slumped against the mast. His head still throbbed from hitting the deck.**

"Oops." Percy winced.

**All around him, his beautiful new ship was in shambles.**

"From firing on our city," Reyna muttered. But the pieces didn't fit together, and she knew it. Why would he destroy his ship in the first place?

"Another reason why it's not him," Piper pointed out. Reyna raised an eyebrow.

Octavian started screaming like a little girl again."Of course it's him, I watched him!"

Leo seemed really angry, because he punched the ground with a loud _thud._ No one but Reyna noticed.

"Were you on the quest with him? I didn't think so. He- didn't- do- it. Get it straight," Piper growled.

**The aft crossbows were piles of kindling. The foresail was tattered. The satellite array that powered the onboard Internet and TV was blown to bits, which had really made Coach Hedge mad. Their bronze dragon figurehead, Festus, was coughing up smoke like he had a hairball,**

"Happy the Dragon?" Reyna coughed.

Leo crossed his arms. "Got a problem with that?" Leo asked. Festus was awesome!

"Erm. No…?" It came out more like a question. Leo grinned towards Travis and Connor.

"Poor Festus," Percy grinned.

**and Leo could tell from the groaning sounds on the port side that some of the aerial oars had been knocked out of alignment or broken off completely, which explained why the ship was listing and shuddering as it flew, the engine wheezing like an asthmatic steam train.**

_Shouldn't he know this already? He's the one who started firing!_ Octavian wondered.

**He choked back a sob. "I don't know. It's fuzzy."**

The gods and Reyna narrowed their eyes in concentration, while Athena rolled her eyes. It was obvious! Duh!

**Too many people were looking at him: Annabeth (Leo hated to make her angry; that girl scared him),**

"Blackmail!" Piper chimed in.

"Not very useful though, she scares a lot of people. Including me." Nico muttered the last part.

Athena smiled. Good.

Reyna furrowed her eyebrows. So Annabeth was one of their leaders, and had a lot of respect at her camp. Camp Half Blood.

**Coach Hedge with his furry goat legs, his orange polo shirt, and his baseball bat (did he have to carry that everywhere?), and the newcomer, Frank.**

**Leo wasn't sure what to make of Frank. He looked like a baby sumo wrestler, though Leo wasn't stupid enough to say that aloud.**

_And the fun begins._ Leo thought, shrinking into the beanbag. _Stupid thoughts, Leo, stupid thoughts!_

Frank just rolled his eyes. _He thinks like my grandmother._

**Leo's memory was hazy, but while he'd been half conscious, he was pretty sure he'd seen a dragon land on the ship—a dragon that had turned into Frank.**

"Oh yeah!" Connor gave Frank a fist bump. "Awesome!"

"Half conscious? Like something was controlling him?" Hephaestus asked. Athena nodded. Finally, someone got the point!

That didn't really make Hephaestus feel better.

**Annabeth crossed her arms. "You mean you don't remember?"**

"**I …" Leo felt like he was trying to swallow a marble. "I remember, but it's like I was watching myself do things. I couldn't control it."**

Hephaestus sighed into his hands. Leo would probably be blamed for all of this.

Octavian crossed his arms. "He's lying. Kill him!"

"It's his thoughts. How could he be lying?" Hazel gritted her teeth.

Octavian shrugged. "You're _Greek_. You're deceiving." He said it like it was obvious.

Percy resisted the urge to chuck Octavian's dagger right back at him.

**Coach Hedge tapped his bat against the deck. In his gym clothes, with his cap pulled over his horns, he looked just like he used to at the Wilderness School, where he'd spent a year undercover as Jason, Piper, and Leo's P.E. teacher. The way the old satyr was glowering, Leo almost wondered if the coach was going to order him to do push-ups.**

"**Look, kid," Hedge said, "you blew up some stuff. You attacked some Romans. Awesome!**

"Awesome?" Reyna was having second thoughts about the Greeks, now.

"It wasn't awesome. Coach Hedge is just…" Piper trailed off.

"Special?" Hermes piped up. Piper shrugged but nodded.

"He likes violence. And he calls us cupcakes." Leo recalled.

"I see." Reyna thought these Greeks were too, eh, random, or casual.

**Excellent! But did you have to knock out the satellite channels?**

"Oh," Reyna nodded in understanding. "That kind of faun."

Hazel smiled.

**I was right in the middle of watching a cage match."**

"**Coach," Annabeth said, "why don't you make sure all the fires are out?"**

"**But I already did that."**

"**Do it again."**

"Bossy," Leo mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?" Annabeth asked innocently.

"Nothing."

**The satyr trudged off, muttering under his breath. Even Hedge wasn't crazy enough to defy Annabeth.**

Reyna kept this information for later.

**She knelt next to Leo. Her gray eyes were as steely as ball bearings. Her blond hair fell loose around her shoulders, but Leo didn't find that attractive. He had no idea where the stereotype of dumb giggly blondes came from. Ever since he'd met Annabeth at the Grand Canyon last winter, when she'd marched toward him with that Give me Percy Jackson or I'll kill you expression, Leo thought of blondes as much too smart and much too dangerous.**

"That's how it should be." Half the room shuddered.

"**Leo," she said calmly, "did Octavian trick you somehow? Did he frame you, or—"**

"**No." Leo could have lied and blamed that stupid Roman, but he didn't want to make a bad situation worse.**

Octavian coughed. "Excuse me? I'm the stupid one?" Leo grit his teeth.

"Yup."

Octavian sent a dagger suspiciously similar to the one he uses to gut teddy bears flying towards Leo. Leo simply leaned back and the dagger whizzed past his face. Percy collected that one, too.

"**The guy was a jerk, but he didn't fire on the camp. I did."**

**The new kid, Frank, scowled. "On purpose?"**

"You're making everything complicated, Frank," Hazel groaned.

"Sorry?" Frank smiled. Leo rolled his eyes.

"**No!" Leo squeezed his eyes shut. "Well, yes … I mean, I didn't want to. But at the same time, I felt like I wanted to. Something was making me do it. There was this cold feeling inside me—"**

"**A cold feeling." Annabeth's tone changed. She sounded almost … scared.**

Athena debated on something. "Annabeth felt that earlier in the first chapters."

"**Yeah," Leo said. "Why?"**

**From belowdecks, Percy called up, "Annabeth, we need you."**

_**Oh, gods**_**, Leo thought. **_**Please let Jason be okay.**_

_He better be okay, Valdez. Or else I'm out to get you. _Thalia thought in the most nonviolent way.

**As soon as they'd gotten on board, Piper had taken Jason below. The cut on his head had looked pretty bad. Leo had known Jason longer than anyone at Camp Half-Blood. They were best friends. If Jason didn't make it …**

"**He'll be fine." Annabeth's expression softened. "Frank, I'll be back. Just … watch Leo. Please."**

**Frank nodded.**

**If it was possible for Leo to feel worse, he did. Annabeth now trusted a Roman demigod she'd known for like, three seconds, more than she trusted Leo.**

"You nearly blew up the city," Reyna pointed out.

"Yeah…?"

**Once she was gone, Leo and Frank stared at each other. The big dude looked pretty odd in his bedsheet toga, with his gray pullover hoodie and jeans, and a bow and quiver from the ship's armory slung over his shoulder. Leo remembered the time he had met the Hunters of Artemis—a bunch of cute lithe girls in silvery clothes, all armed with bows. He imagined Frank frolicking along with them. The idea was so ridiculous, it almost made him feel better.**

Artemis scowled while everyone else laughed. Frank frowned. _Don't pass the border, Valdez._ "No boys," Thalia muttered.

"**So," Frank said. "Your name isn't Sammy?"**

**Leo scowled. "What kind of question is that?"**

Aphrodite 'eep'ed while most of the gods looked at Frank weirdly.

"**Nothing," Frank said quickly. "I just— Nothing. About the firing on the camp … Octavian could be behind it, like magically or something. He didn't want the Romans getting along with you guys."**

"Stubborn," Apollo sang.

"You're supposed to be on my side!" Octavian whined.

**Leo wanted to believe that. He was grateful to this kid for not hating him. But he knew it hadn't been Octavian. Leo had walked to a ballista and started firing. Part of him had known it was wrong. He'd asked himself: What the heck am I doing? But he'd done it anyway.**

"Insanity?" Reyna muttered. It sounded like it.

**Maybe he was going crazy. The stress of all those months working on the Argo II might've finally made him crack.**

"Well, building a _war ship_…"

**But he couldn't think about that. He needed to do something productive. His hands needed to be busy.**

"**Look," he said, "I should talk to Festus and get a damage report. You mind …?"**

**Frank helped him up. "Who is Festus?"**

"**My friend," Leo said. "His name isn't Sammy either, in case you're wondering.**

"I wasn't wondering, by the way."

Leo rolled his eyes.

**Come on. I'll introduce you."**

**Fortunately the bronze dragon wasn't damaged. Well, aside from the fact that last winter he'd lost everything except his head—but Leo didn't count that.**

**When they reached the bow of the ship, the figurehead turned a hundred and eighty degrees to look at them. Frank yelped and backed away.**

"**It's alive!" he said.**

"Well it's not dead." Leo reasoned.

"That's not what I meant."

**Leo would have laughed if he hadn't felt so bad. "Yeah. Frank, this is Festus. He used to be a full bronze dragon, but we had an accident."**

"**You have a lot of accidents," Frank noted.**

"**Well, some of us can't turn into dragons, so we have to build our own."**

"Harsh." Frank pouted, and Hazel giggled.

**Leo arched his eyebrows at Frank. "Anyway, I revived him as a figurehead. He's kind of the ship's main interface now. How are things looking, Festus?"**

**Festus snorted smoke and made a series of squeaking, whirring sounds. Over the last few months, Leo had learned to interpret this machine language. Other demigods could understand Latin and Greek. Leo could speak Creak and Squeak.**

Reyna started brainstorming. He's not like the other children of Vulcan. Is it because he's Greek, or is he just, special?

"**Ugh," Leo said. "Could be worse, but the hull is compromised in several places. The port aerial oars have to be fixed before we can go full speed again. We'll need some repair materials: Celestial bronze, tar, lime—"**

"**What do you need limes for?"**

"Everyone gets hungry. Duh!" Hermes exclaimed. Hephaestus and Athena face palmed.

"**Dude, lime. Calcium carbonate, used in cement and a bunch of other— Ah, never mind. The point is, this ship isn't going far unless we can fix it."**

**Festus made another click-creak noise that Leo didn't recognize. It sounded like AY-zuhl.**

"Me!" Hazel said brightly.

"**Oh … Hazel," he deciphered. "That's the girl with the curly hair, right?"**

"Well, that's one way to put it." Hazel mumbled.

**Frank gulped. "Is she okay?"**

"**Yeah, she's fine," Leo said. "According to Festus, her horse is racing along below. She's following us."**

"**We've got to land, then," Frank said.**

**Leo studied him. "She's your girlfriend?"**

**Frank chewed his lip. "Yes."**

"Why were you nervous?" Hazel arched an eyebrow at him.

Frank through his hands in the air. "I'm new at this! Sue me!"

Nico smirked. "Gladly."

Hazel winced. She whispered to Frank. "Since dad's god of the riches in the ground, we're pretty good at making money."

"Well, that's great," Frank muttered.

"**You don't sound sure."**

"Getting on my nerves…"

"**Yes. Yes, definitely. I'm sure."**

**Leo raised his hands. "Okay, fine. The problem is we can only manage one landing. The way the hull and the oars are, we won't be able to lift off again until we repair, so we'll have to make sure we land somewhere with all the right supplies."**

**Frank scratched his head. "Where do you get Celestial bronze? You can't just stock up at Home Depot."**

"Yeah… I don't think so."

Hephaestus took out a notebook and scribbled something down.

"What's with the appearing notebooks?!" Thalia commented.

"I have no idea," Leo whispered.

"**Festus, do a scan."**

"**He can scan for magic bronze?" Frank marveled. "Is there anything he can't do?"**

**Leo thought: You should've seen him when he had a body. But he didn't say that. It was too painful, remembering the way Festus used to be.**

**Leo peered over the ship's bow. The Central California valley was passing below. Leo didn't hold out much hope that they could find what they needed all in one place, but they had to try. Leo also wanted to put as much distance as possible between himself and New Rome. The Argo II could cover vast distances pretty quickly, thanks to its magical engine, but Leo figured the Romans had magic travel methods of their own.**

"Eagles," Octavian said proudly.

"Eagles?" Clarisse laughed. "We have pegasi and chariots."

"You have more than one?" Reyna asked. "We only have one."

Clarisse nodded with a smirk.

**Behind him, the stairs creaked. Percy and Annabeth climbed up, their faces grim.**

**Leo's heart stumbled. "Is Jason—?"**

"**He's resting," Annabeth said. "Piper's keeping an eye on him, but he should be fine."**

**Percy gave him a hard look. "Annabeth says you did fire the ballista?"**

"**Man, I—I don't understand how it happened. I'm so sorry—"**

"**Sorry?" Percy growled.**

"Ah, jeez, Percy's in defense mode." Connor hid behind Travis.

"In the book." Clarisse rolled her eyes and went to slap Connor. Connor turned and screamed "DUCK!" and hit the floor. Travis turned around. "Where-?" he was interrupted with a slap right in the face. "Oh, it's on!" Travis and Clarisse started sparring, with rough faking front kicks and harsh round kicks. Clarisse turned and jabbed Travis, aiming for his face. Travis looked like a deer in the headlights, but he ducked, and targeted Clarisse's stomach. They continued fighting, and Hermes and Ares cheered for their respective kid. Hermes and Apollo held up signs like fan girls. _Go Travvie! _ Apollo's read, and Travis scowled in between a set of side kicks.

Hazel, Frank, Reyna, and Octavian were watching in fascination. "They do this often?" Hazel murmured. "Well," Connor started cheerfully. "Usually it's between Travis and Katie, but yes." He said it like it was a daily occurrence.

A manly (detect the sarcasm?) yelp came from Travis. "Hey!"

Connor and Clarisse smirked. Clarisse lunged in for another round, this time with her sword grasped in her hands. Travis groaned and took out his knife, which was concealed in his jacket pocket. Celestial bronze met celestial bronze with a clear _clang,_ ringing throughout the room. Travis hesitated. "Truce? For now?" He muttered the last part. Clarisse arched an eyebrow. The _Stolls _giving up? Not likely.

She shook his hand. Or tried to flip him over her shoulder. Ya know, everyday stuff. Just one problem for Clarisse. Travis had similar ideas.

They ended up thumb wrestling, which was pretty pathetic. "Ergh," Clarisse muttered.

"Well that wasn't supposed to happen."

"One, two, three, four. I declare a thumb war!" Travis shouted, narrowing his eyes in concentration. Clarisse threw her hands away from Travis, who seemed disappointed. "What? No thumb war?"

"Why can't I just have a good fight once in awhile? Is that too much to ask?!" Clarisse wondered, looking towards Ares, who was nodding in agreement.

Frank looked aghast. He was related to her! Nico seemed to be having similar thoughts, because he shivered and gave Frank a look of… sympathy?

"Just keep reading," Jason ignored to groans coming from Travis' direction. "This is normal. Apparently."

Annabeth nodded fondly, and kept reading.

**Annabeth put a hand on her boyfriend's chest. **

Aphrodite started coughing violently.

Apollo peered over towards Aphrodite's throne. "You okay over there?"

She just nodded at waved at them to keep reading. Annabeth rolled her eyes, but a tinge of red crept up to her cheeks.

** "We'll figure it out later. Right now, we have to regroup and make a plan. What's the situation with the ship?"**

**Leo's legs trembled. The way Percy had looked at him made him feel the same as when Jason summoned lightning. Leo's skin tingled, and every instinct in his body screamed, Duck!**

Connor nodded. "Same." Clarisse rolled her eyes and went to slug him. "Not this again!" Athena cried in exasperation, and pulled Clarisse back into her seat mentally, which of course happened physically with her mind.

**He told Annabeth about the damage and the supplies they needed. At least he felt better talking about something fixable.**

"Unlike people. So complex," Hephaestus grumbled.

Leo nodded slightly.

**He was bemoaning the shortage of Celestial bronze when Festus began to whir and squeak.**

"**Perfect." Leo sighed with relief.**

"**What's perfect?" Annabeth said. "I could use some perfect about now."**

"We all could." Artemis sighed.

**Leo managed a smile. "Everything we need in one place.**

"Convenient." Athena frowned.

**Frank, why don't you turn into a bird or something? Fly down and tell your girlfriend to meet us at the Great Salt Lake in Utah."**

**Once they got there, it wasn't a pretty landing. With the oars damaged and the foresail torn, Leo could barely manage a controlled descent. The others strapped themselves in below—except for Coach Hedge, who insisted on clinging to the forward rail, yelling, "YEAH! Bring it on, lake!"**

Poseidon grimaced. "Not all lakes are nice." He groaned at how stupid that sounded.

Hermes and Apollo were too busy to care. Too busy cheering on the lake.

**Leo stood astern, alone at the helm, and aimed as best he could.**

"Does that mean you hit a tree?" Hermes asked innocently.

"Hey! That's an insult to my abilities!" Leo complained.

"No, but we were close," Piper replied to Hermes, who grinned.

**Festus creaked and whirred warning signals, which were relayed through the intercom to the quarterdeck.**

"**I know, I know," Leo said, gritting his teeth.**

"Even the dragon's against me," Leo muttered. Piper giggled but nodded.

**He didn't have much time to take in the scenery. To the southeast, a city was nestled in the foothills of a mountain range, blue and purple in the afternoon shadows. A flat desert landscape spread to the south. Directly beneath them the Great Salt Lake glittered like aluminum foil, the shoreline etched with white salt marshes that reminded Leo of aerial photos of Mars.**

"Didn't take in the scenery my immortal-,"

"Apollo! Sheesh!"

"He just described an essay worth of landscape!"

"To you."

"Was that an insult? I couldn't tell."

"**Hang on, Coach!" he shouted. "This is going to hurt."**

"**I was born for hurt!"**

"And talking," Frank added.

**WHOOM! A swell of salt water washed over the bow, dousing Coach Hedge. The Argo II listed dangerously to starboard, then righted itself and rocked on the surface of the lake. Machinery hummed as the aerial blades that were still working changed to nautical form.**

**Three banks of robotic oars dipped into the water and began moving them forward.**

"**Good job, Festus," Leo said. "Take us toward the south shore."**

"**Yeah!" Coach Hedge pumped his fists in the air. He was drenched from his horns to hooves, but grinning like a crazy goat. "Do it again!"**

"Silly goat!" Apollo and Hermes grinned. "Crazy landings into lakes are for demigods!" They chimed.

"I don't know what to say." Athena stared.

"**Uh … maybe later," Leo said. "Just stay above deck, okay? You can keep watch, in case—you know, the lake decides to attack us or something."**

"You never know." Poseidon shrugged.

"**On it," Hedge promised.**

**Leo rang the All clear bell and headed for the stairs. Before he got there, a loud clump-clump-clump shook the hull. A tan stallion appeared on deck with Hazel Levesque on his back.**

"**How—?" Leo's question died in his throat. "We're in the middle of a lake! Can that thing fly?"**

**The horse whinnied angrily.**

"Give him a bar of soap, already!" Percy demanded, but Hazel just laughed.

"No, I love seeing your expression when you listen to him!"

Percy huffed and turned away.

"**Arion can't fly," Hazel said. "But he can run across just about anything. Water, vertical surfaces, small mountains—none of that bothers him."**

"**Oh."**

"That's Percy's response to everything." Thalia rolled her eyes.

**Hazel was looking at him strangely, the way she had during the feast in the forum—like she was searching for something in his face. He was tempted to ask if they had met before, but he was sure they hadn't. He would remember a pretty girl paying such close attention to him. That didn't happen a lot.**

**She's Frank's girlfriend, he reminded himself.**

_You remember that._ Frank thought, as Hazel blushed.

**Frank was still below, but Leo almost wished the big guy would come up the stairs. The way Hazel was studying Leo made him feel uneasy and self-conscious.**

_Yeah, what was I doing?_

**Coach Hedge crept forward with his baseball bat, eyeing the magic horse suspiciously. "Valdez, does this count as an invasion?"**

"Everything's an invasion to him."

"**No!" Leo said. "Um, Hazel, you'd better come with me. I built a stable belowdecks, if Arion wants to—"**

"**He's more of a free spirit." Hazel slipped out of the saddle. "He'll graze around the lake until I call him. But I want to see the ship. Lead the way."**

**The Argo II was designed like an ancient trireme, only twice as big. The first deck had one central corridor with crew cabins on either side. On a normal trireme, most of the space would've been taken up with three rows of benches for a few hundred sweaty guys to do the manual labor, but Leo's oars were automated and retractable, so they took up very little room inside the hull.**

Hephaestus beamed.

**The ship's power came from the engine room on the second and lowest deck, which also housed sickbay, storage, and the stables.**

**Leo led the way down the hall. He'd built the ship with eight cabins—seven for the demigods of the prophecy, and a room for Coach Hedge (Seriously—Chiron considered him a responsible adult chaperone?).**

"Yeah, really? Not his best move." Nico sighed.

**At the stern was a large mess hall/lounge, which was where Leo headed.**

**On the way, they passed Jason's room. The door was open. Piper sat at the side of his berth, holding Jason's hand while he snored with an ice pack on his head.**

**Piper glanced at Leo. She held a finger to her lips for quiet, but she didn't look angry. That was something. Leo tried to force down his guilt, and they kept walking. When they reached the mess hall, they found the others—Percy, Annabeth, and Frank—sitting dejectedly around the dining table.**

**Leo had made the lounge as nice as possible, since he figured they'd be spending a lot of time there. The cupboard was lined with magic cups and plates from Camp Half-Blood, which would fill up with whatever food or drink you wanted on command.**

"Homesick." Annabeth and Percy muttered.

**There was also a magical ice chest with canned drinks, perfect for picnics ashore. The chairs were cushy recliners with thousand-finger massage, built-in headphones, and sword and drink holders for all your demigod kicking-back needs.**

"That was nice," all of the demigods, minus Reyna and Octavian, sighed.

Reyna and Octavian glanced curiously at Leo. "You designed all of this?" Reyna asked, impressed.

"And built most of it." Leo grinned. Fun to make the ideas. But building _all _of it? Not so much.

"He builds a lot of other stuff besides special chairs," Piper glanced at Leo strangely. "A thinking cap, rainbow fire breathing chocolate spewing elevator-,"

"Of doom," Leo reminded her.

"Whatever. Also a taco hat and a self implying 'Beauty Queen' make up robot." She muttered the last part angrily.

Leo beamed. "I'm a genius."

**There were no windows, but the walls were enchanted to show real-time footage from Camp Half-Blood—the beach, the forest, the strawberry fields—although now Leo was wondering if this made people homesick rather than happy.**

"Both, I guess."

**Percy was staring longingly at a sunset view of Half-Blood Hill, where the Golden Fleece glittered in the branches of the tall pine tree.**

"**So we've landed," Percy said. "What now?"**

**Frank plucked on his bowstring. "Figure out the prophecy? I mean … that was a prophecy Ella spoke, right? From the Sibylline Books?"**

"**The what?" Leo asked.**

**Frank explained how their harpy friend was freakishly good at memorizing books. At some point in the past, she'd inhaled a collection of ancient prophecies that had supposedly been destroyed around the fall of Rome.**

Octavian started hyperventilating. "Where- Where- Wh- Where is SHE?!" he gasped.

He grabbed the side of the bean bag, and dug his nails into them. "Zeep," He squeaked. Reyna was shocked. If they could find this harpy… Frank, Percy, and Hazel were really worried. What would Octavian do to find her?

"**That's why you didn't tell the Romans," Leo guessed. "You didn't want them to get hold of her."**

"With good reason." Clarisse glanced back at Octavian.

**Percy kept staring at the image of Half-Blood Hill. "Ella's sensitive. She was a captive when we found her. I just didn't want …" He made a fist. "It doesn't matter now. I sent Tyson an Iris-message, told him to take Ella to Camp Half-Blood. They'll be safe there."**

"Where? WHERE?!" Octavian shrieked. Reyna pursed her lips but didn't say anything.

**Leo doubted that any of them would be safe, now that he had stirred up a camp of angry Romans on top of the problems they already had with Gaea and the giants; but he kept quiet.**

**Annabeth laced her fingers. "Let me think about the prophecy—but right now we have more immediate problems. We have to get this ship fixed. Leo, what do we need?"**

"**The easiest thing is tar." Leo was glad to change the subject. "We can get that in the city, at a roofing-supply store or someplace like that. Also, Celestial bronze and lime. According to Festus, we can find both of those on an island in the lake, just west of here."**

"**We'll have to hurry," Hazel warned. "If I know Octavian, he's searching for us with his auguries. The Romans will send a strike force after us. It's a matter of honor."**

"Conceited, vain, power-hungry…" Travis trailed off. Connor gave him a crazy look.

**Leo felt everyone's eyes on him. "Guys … I don't know what happened. Honestly, I—"**

**Annabeth raised her hand. "We've been talking. We agree it couldn't have been you, Leo. That cold feeling you mentioned … I felt it too. It must have been some sort of magic, either Octavian or Gaea or one of her minions. But until we understand what happened —"**

**Frank grunted. "How can we be sure it won't happen again?"**

"Good point," Athena admitted. She hadn't thought of that.

**Leo's fingers heated up like they were about to catch fire.**

Frank and Hazel shivered a little, and Leo frowned.

**One of his powers as a son of Hephaestus was that he could summon flames at will; but he had to be careful not to do so by accident, especially on a ship filled with explosives and flammable supplies.**

"What?!" Reyna and Octavian stared at him, while Leo stuck his tongue out at Octavian.

"'Cuz I'm awesome," he added gleefully.

"Whoa…" Reyna mumbled.

"**I'm fine now," he insisted, though he wished he could be sure. "Maybe we should use the buddy system. Nobody goes anywhere alone. We can leave Piper and Coach Hedge on board with Jason. Send one team into town to get tar. Another team can go after the bronze and the lime."**

"**Split up?" Percy said. "That sounds like a really bad idea."**

"But a large group would attract too much attention," Thalia pointed out.

"**It'll be quicker," Hazel put in. "Besides, there's a reason a quest is usually limited to three demigods, right?"**

**Annabeth raised her eyebrows, as if reappraising Hazel's merits.**

"**You're right. The same reason we needed the Argo II … outside camp, seven demigods in one place will attract way too much monstrous attention. The ship is designed to conceal and protect us. We should be safe enough on board; but if we go on expeditions, we shouldn't travel in groups larger than three. No sense alerting more of Gaea's minions than we have to."**

Thalia nodded.

**Percy still didn't look happy about it, but he took Annabeth's hand. "As long as you're my buddy, I'm good."**

**Hazel smiled. "Oh, that's easy. Frank, you were amazing, turning into a dragon! Could you do it again to fly Annabeth and Percy into town for the tar?"**

"Transportation!" Connor sang, and Frank scowled.

**Frank opened his mouth like he wanted to protest. "I … I suppose. But what about you?"**

"**I'll ride Arion with Sa—with Leo, here." She fidgeted with her sword hilt, which made Leo uneasy. She had even more nervous energy than he did.**

Apollo whistled. "She must have a lot of energy." Hazel smiled a little.

"**We'll get the bronze and the lime. We can all meet back here by dark."**

**Frank scowled. Obviously, he didn't like the idea of Leo going off with Hazel. For some reason, Frank's disapproval made Leo want to go.**

"Why would that be?" Frank mock thought. Leo didn't say anything.

**He had to prove he was trustworthy. He wasn't going to fire any random ballistae again.**

"I would hope not." Artemis grimaced.

"**Leo," said Annabeth, "if we get the supplies, how long to fix the ship?"**

"**With luck, just a few hours."**

"With luck," Annabeth reminded them.

"**Fine," she decided. "We'll meet you back here as soon as possible, but stay safe. We could use some good luck. That doesn't mean we'll get it."**

"Well said." Thalia complimented Annabeth.

Annabeth closed the book. "End of the chapter," she announced.

Everyone headed towards the Dining Room in seek of Lunch, Aphrodite right behind Percy and Annabeth, pestering them about a full makeover.

**I'm listening to "World Without End" by Brand X. While watching G I Jo. While typing this. Why? Cuz it's cool. Or because I got stuck in between them. .-. **

**annabetheverdeen7dobby, I think you liked the karate/sparring scene. Right? Thought you'd recognize that. :D That gear is sweaty.**

**Next time I update it'll be next week, or weekend. No whining. *Ma'am, Yes ma'am* tehe.**

**-Stealth**


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